Chasing Away The Shadows: Extras
by A Cullen Wannabe
Summary: This posting contains, extras, outtakes, and alternative points of view for particular chapters in the story Chasing Away The Shadows: A Sequel. While the story itself is rated T, the Extras section is rated M with some lemons. Adults only please.
1. Morning Revelations Seth POV

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or any of it's original characters.**_

_**This set of outtakes originally contained MA scenes between the two main characters in the context of their slowly growing physical relationship. While they had been referred to as tasteful by my reviewers, they were detailed enough to be blackflagged by the LU. I have removed the chapters that were in violation of the TOS guidelines, but I am not happy about this fact and am part of a group working to find a solution to this issue. In my profile are links to a petition to convince fanfiction to bring back MA stories, as well as to a blog focused on finding proactive ways to solve the problem. Please, if you are reading this, take some time to look at what there is to say and what we can do to find a solution to this problem....AND IF YOU ARE A FANFICTION ADMIN, PLEASE CONSIDER OUR REQUEST TO CHANGE THE GUIDELINES TO ALLOW MA STORIES. We've done some preliminary number crunching, and these stories get very high volumes of readers and reviewers and are a very high percentage of the stories posted at least in the major fandoms. Removing these stories remove major ad dollars.**_

_**I debated whether to leave these chapters up until fanfiction asked me personally to take them down, but then I decided that I didn't want to risk the chapters that were valuable to me as far as advancing the storyline to be unceremoniously yanked altogether and decided to take the opportunity to make a plea to the admins when/if they come to verify abuse claims. I will say that I am very opposed to much of what the LU stands for and some of the tactics that have been used in regards to other authors. I am fair enough to say that I have not been personally attacked in the same way that some of my friends have. **_

_**Please take the time to look into what is going on in our fanfiction community and help us work to correct the problem that is causing the controversy. All we can do is ask fanfiction if they would be willing to change the ratings and if they will not then I will move on...but I want them to come out and say openly what their decision is first. If this is never going to happen, fanfiction, save us all a ton of headaches by making a formal notice so we don't waste your time and ours. I actually feel a bit sorry for the admins. They must hate going into work each morning and dealing with overflowing queues between the reports coming in from both sides of the conflict, but if you have no intention of changing the status, then you should tell us know and a portion of this will probably end. At that same time, I hope that you do not allow this group bullying some of the authors on this site to continue. In some cases, it has been tantamount to real harassment and what I would consider spamming, which is also against your TOS.**_

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**13. Morning Revelations Seth POV**

I was more than a little disappointed when I woke up and reached over to Lina's side of the bed to find it was empty. In my blind search my hand brushed across a folded piece of paper with my name written in Lina's beautiful handwriting on the front.

_You were sleeping so soundly I didn't want to wake you. I'm heading over to the main house for a little while. Come find me when you wake up. Love you Always –Lina P.S. Last night was so freaking incredible!!! When can we do it again? (wink, wink)_

A wide lustful grin spread across my face at the idea of more….more of her glorious body, more of her soft flesh in my hands, more of her moans and sighs, more of her amazing erotic expressions. Mmmm…I'm not going to be capable of going next door if I don't get my mind out of the gutter and get a quick shower. One thing's for sure, I won't need my weak fantasies anymore…they don't hold a candle to the real thing anyway. I slid out of bed, grabbed a quick shower, and ran next door to find my Angel. I had already been away from her more than long enough.

I walked in to find her perched on the couch listening intently as Alice told a story about some time she and Jasper spent in Hawaii after their first wedding. They would stay in all day and then explore the island at night and managed to find some amazing coastline that humans were not able to get to easily and actually got to spend one entire sunny day on the beach away from the hazard of prying eyes. I loved to watch her face when she listened to her siblings' stories like this. It was almost like she was picturing the story so vividly that she was living it with them. Her eyes sparkled as she clung to every word Alice said, not even noticing I was there until I sunk into the sofa cushion next to her. She turned to face me with a surprised expression and it made me want to sweep her into my arms and carry her back to out house to "do it again" at that very moment.

I leaned forward and brushed her earlobe with my lips as I whispered, "I missed you when I woke up this morning."

That beautiful pink color that I love so much filled her cheeks and I could tell she knew what I was thinking without me saying anything at all. "You were sleeping so peacefully I didn't want to wake you up."

I felt someone get up behind me and leave the room and I saw her crooked little smirk flash across her face before another expression that I couldn't pinpoint clouded her eyes. I decided not to ask and instead get her to focus back on more pleasant thoughts.

"Why are you blushing?" I asked suggestively.

"A few reasons, but at this particular moment I'm feeling bad that we just chased poor Jasper out of the room."

I glanced behind me to see Jasper was in fact the one I had heard leave and then turned back with a mischievous grin…she was thinking along exactly the same lines I was after all. Ugh…if only I could think of an inconspicuous way to get her back in our bedroom!

"I was also remembering what you said in your sleep this morning," she whispered with a smug expression on her face.

"I was talking in my sleep?" I asked in surprise. I never knew I talked in my sleep and now I was a little worried about what I might have said. I remembered my dreams and they were less dreams and more a play-by-play repeat of the night before.

I instantly relaxed when I saw a devious smile spread across her face; obviously it hadn't upset her whatever I had said. She leaned in close and whispered, "Oh yeah, I'll tell you more later."

I was disappointed that I had to wait to hear what I had said to put that sexy little smile on her beautiful mouth, but I understood the need to wait. I pretended to pout before shooting her a smile. "What are the other reasons?"

She blushed far more deeply this time as she looked down to study her hands in her lap before looking up through her eyelashes bashfully, "Um…we sort of chased Edward off, he had to take an impromptu hunting trip yesterday afternoon. He and Bella still aren't back."

I winced for poor Edward. I had been so focused on my Angel and our overwhelming emotions and needs that we were engulfed in to even consider that he was experiencing any of it. After a moment I whispered a small oops glancing over my shoulders to see if Emmett was as pissed off as I had once thought he would be. He looked over and shot me a playful grin as he pumped his fist lightly in the air so that nobody else could see. I heard my beautiful Angel's musical chuckle and I turned back to her as I took a deep breath grateful that I wouldn't be pummeled by vampires today.

I knew she was going to be upset with me for this, but I also knew that it was a good idea for her family to know what was going on with her. I was pretty certain after our talk the night before that her dreams were far more than simply dreams.

"So did you tell them about the dream?" I whispered into her ear. Suddenly all attention was on us and I felt Jasper reappear on the upper landing of the staircase behind me.

Annoyance flashed in her eyes. "Thanks a lot! I was hoping I wouldn't have to, but now I guess I have no choice."

She slowly retold the horrific tale from the night before, still with just as much detail and clarity as she had just moments after waking. I reached over to comfort her as the tremors once again invaded her limbs and the tears began to roll down her cheeks as I once again fought against my own tears. The family all watched with pained expressions, and then laughed at the part about hoping she could somehow reassemble and reanimate them. Her father explained the real reason for burning the body parts, which made perfect sense. She looked terribly embarrassed as she explained that she thought she knew that, but was desperate I her dream state to find a way to get them back. Of course she was, I would be too.

We talked a little longer and finally I knew she wasn't going to discuss it so I had to bring it up myself and face the wrath later. I told them about her resigning herself that she should not go to La Push if an emergency arose for fear of bringing trouble to them. I was glad that they agreed with me and struggled to make her understand it was the only viable choice. I cringed when they started in on the 'they're only dreams' rationale. I felt in my gut that they really were more than just dreams and I knew that she was beginning to believe that too. This wasn't going to be good. I closed my eyes and held my breath waiting for the tirade to begin.

"I'm sure once upon a time a human Alice would have told you the exact same things and look who she is today. I'm telling you these dreams are too vivid, they feel too real… I'm pretty sure that they will not play out exactly as I dream them, but I'm really starting to believe that there's more to them than simply dreams. Edward theorizes that I may have a touch of precognition, or at least that's what he told Seth after my dream in La Push." I watched hesitantly as her body drew tightly up from the couch and stood tense in front of me with her hands clenched at her side.

"And I resent the implication that just because I may be the only plain old human around this place that the things that I experience are automatically considered to simply be a result of my subconscious working overtime. All of your gifts originated from a weaker manifestation within your human selves, so to just dismiss whatever this is as simply dreams is to say that none of your gifts were valid in your human forms, which we know isn't true because of Bella. I recognize a few things, I know that the way the baby looks is from my own imagination, her powers probably are too, I know that what happened to you all is somehow linked to my fears, although I do believe that you are in some form of danger, but I also believe that these dreams foreshadow a real threat from the Volturi, and a real threat to Jake and Nessie's baby and the pack. Some parts of my visions are way too accurate to be coincidence and for you to just dismiss it is utterly infuriating!"

As she continued in her speech the volume of her voice grew louder and louder until she was practically yelling at her stunned family. Lina was typically such a rational and calm person that it always shocked them when she actually let go and laid it all out on the line. I looked to see her face streaked with tears of frustration just before I felt a blanket of calm fill the room and I winced as I saw her spin and glare at Jasper still watching the scene unfold from the landing on the staircase.

"Jasper, would you just stop that! I'm not a newborn. It's not like I'm going to go on a murder spree or something. I am allowed to feel the full breadth of my emotions from time to time you know!"

She immediately looked repentant for being so sharp with Jasper who was just trying to help and gave him a look of apology before shaking her head and walking out the front door slamming it behind her. I looked at her family who stared at me in shock.

"I believe her. When she told me about the dream last night I realized that she knows too much for someone who's never seen them. She's right…they aren't just dreams. You know it as well as I do and I know you're trying to keep her from worrying, but she's too smart for that. All you're doing is frustrating her when you try to dismiss them like that. I'm going after her to try to calm her down first, but you guys might want to come over and talk to her later." I said quickly before running full speed out the door to catch up with her.

I caught up to her just before she reached the beginning of the trail that connected our properties and grabbed her hand effectively spinning her into my open arms. I felt her weight collapse into me as I held her firmly against my chest and let her cry out her frustrations as I did the only thing that I knew always helped her calm down. I rubbed small circles on her lower back and placed butterfly kisses on my forehead and hair. I was thankful when the tension in her body began to melt away. Finally she seemed like she was ready to continue on, so I led her toward the house keeping one arm around her shoulder and hugging her into my side as we walked together. We were halfway there when she finally started to voice her frustrations.

I asked her about her exposure to the guard and if she'd ever been shown any images of them, trying to confirm my suspicions before I let her know about my theory. A chill ran down my spine as I told her that her detailed explanations were far too accurate for someone who had never seen the guard elite and told her I agreed that there was more to her dreams that met the eye. I watched her eyes as a new fear filled them and it broke my heart to know that my revelation put it there. My one goal in life was to make her happy and keep her safe and it hurt to know that what I said put that fear there.

She began to shake and I pulled her tighter to me as I encircled her with my arms and caressed the back of her hair. "I promise I will do everything in my power to protect you Angel." I whispered into her hair as I resumed placing butterfly kisses on the top of her head. We eventually resumed our trek back to the house continuing the conversation. We sat in our living room and talked for a long time before fixing spaghetti for lunch and eating in the peace and tranquility of our home as we looked out on the pond.

As we were finishing up the last of the lunch dishes there was a knock on the front door and Lina went over to open it.

"May we come in?" I heard Edward's voice ask from the doorway.

Bella and Jasper were with Edward and Lina invited them to have a seat in the living room as we sat ourselves on the loveseat across from the couch. We all sat in uncomfortable silence before both Edward and Lina started to speak at the same time. They both stopped and looked at each other with matching crooked smiles. I loved that smile and I always got a kick out of how she and Edward seemed to carry on silent conversations at times when they looked at one another that way. I knew he was hearing her, but there were times that it seemed almost as if she could hear him too.

"First of all, Edward, I want to apologize for yesterday. We were sort of wrapped up in the emotions of the whole nightmare thing and then after that well, things just evolved. I didn't even think about you being nearby." She said from her seat next to me as a slow blush rose in her cheeks. I could feel my own face growing even warmer than usual as I thought of what he must have seen that night. It was more than a little frustrating to know that I couldn't be intimate with my Angel without an audience no matter how unwitting he was.

Edward shook his head appearing to try to lose the visual that he was probably receiving from me, and most likely my Angel too. "It's okay. I understand. I had actually caught your dream from the part where you were trying to call me and was listening to the conversation afterward concerned about you and when the comforting transitioned to the more intimate I decided it was prudent to leave before I saw more than I would ever care to. I could see in your mind where things were going to end up going, so I didn't actually see any more than I had before." He stated calmly with a furrowed brow before he suddenly winced again and continued with a strained voice, "Until now that is…can you two please stop reminiscing!"

I winced and now I knew that if I wasn't blushing before that I definitely was now. I could hear Bella and Jasper chuckling next to him, as their eyes darted back and forth between Edward and us. I saw Lina look at me in my peripheral vision, but I kept my eyes locked with Edward as I once again apologized in my mind.

I felt a sense of relief wash over me as I heard Edward tell us that he didn't get as much of a show the night before as we had feared and I felt myself swallow hard when he admitted to watching her dream and being concerned himself with the clarity of her dreams. I could feel my Angel tensing in my arms as he continued on telling of going to see Eleazar and his desire to come meet her. I looked over at her with concerned eyes as her eyes glazed over as though she weren't seeing anything despite her eyes being wide open. I reached over and pulled her closer to my side placing more and more soft kisses on her head as she trembled weakly in my arms. I was getting worried because she seemed like she was falling into a state of shock. I felt the wave of peace that Jasper sent across the room and was relieved to see a small smile peek out from behind her mask of shock, but she still didn't focus her gaze back to the here and now. Finally after what seemed like an eternity and a half she finally focused her eyes across the room on her siblings and nodded slowly.

"Okay, so next week maybe we will have some more tangible answers. What do we do for now?" I heard her ask in little more than a whisper.

"Nothing," Edward continued, "We already checked with Alice and the Volturi are all safely entrenched in Volterra now with no plans to go anywhere at all at this point in time. Like us, Eleazar believes that the events that are prophetic in your dream are far in the future, maybe even beyond your own human lifespan, but he feels it would be a good idea for us to see what we can gather from them."

"So we wait for Eleazar." She said just barely loud enough for even those of us with superior hearing could make out and took in a deep shaky breath.

They all nodded, "We wait for Eleazar." They all responded in unison in the same volume as Lina.

She was still looking a bit dazed as Edward whispered below the range of her hearing that he and Jasper wanted me to come with them to give Bella some time alone with Lina. It was well known amongst all of the family that when Lina was in her most dejected moods that Bella was the best secret weapon to help pull her through. I placed one more kiss on her head and gave her a quick squeeze before getting up and following Edward and Jasper out the door. I looked back before I closed the door to see that Bella had crossed over to sit in the place I had just been and saw that my Angel had curled herself into her sister's side already looking more at peace.

My heart skipped a beat as I looked at how precious she was and at the same time it sent a wave of nausea through me. Most of the time my Angel was so strong and self assured that I would forget that she really was only seventeen. It was times like these that I felt guilty for stealing some of her youth from her. I know she was never a normal kid or teenager, but even then her life was not nearly as different as it became after we got involved. I hoped against hope that someday she wouldn't look back and resent me for stealing those precious years of youth that she had left when I came into her life. That's why I pushed her so hard to stay in school for both semesters this last year instead of graduating early and encouraged her as much as possible to be involved in everything I could that was related to these last few fleeting years of her life as a teenager.

I had a heavy heart as I followed behind Edward and Jasper who were already out of sight, but a second later Edward was standing in front of me again.

"You are what she wants Seth. I am glad you came into her life when you did. Do you know how different this all would have been if she didn't have you in her life? I am pretty sure we would be making plans for transforming her in the next few years once she got to experience college and grew to be old enough not to have to repeat high school, but instead we are preparing for a wedding and she is planning for a future with you. You know all of these years I have never observed her considering motherhood? She always assumed that she would end up transforming and never getting the opportunity. You give her hope and she doesn't resent a moment of time she has with you. So cheer up and just be happy that you found each other." He said with a reassuring smile.

I smiled back at him and we continued on to the main house. Alice met us at the door and told me to plan on spending about three and a half hours over here, so I got on the computer to check my emails and check on a few projects that were up in the air. I loved Angel's vacations from school, but it was so hard for me to force myself away from her to get any work done. I settled in for a few good hours of work thankful that I had the foresight to install the necessary programs on the computer here as well.

I took a break about an hour and a half in and walked into the kitchen to find Edward looking out toward our house with a wide grin on his face. He heard my question before I could voice it and answered me.

"I love how happy they both are when they get to spend time together like this. They are having a really good time together."

I looked off in the direction that he was gazing and smiled to myself. I too knew that spending quality time with Bella always left my Angel in a brighter mood. I looked back at Edward and furrowed my brow when I saw that his expression had dropped and there was sadness in his eyes.

"It's going to be hard for all of us when the two of you leave us," he began in barely more than a whisper, "but I fear Bella will feel it the worst." He turned to me as he continued. "Lina is so special Seth. I know you know that, but you have no way of knowing how even more special she is to us. We're not really accustomed to having to let go of the people that we share our lives with. The secrets we live with keep us all close and where one of us has to go the others follow. We've never…had to leave a family member behind before." He closed his eyes as the pain on his face intensified.

"She's our light Seth. She's sort of like our little human sun that brightens our sad meandering existence. I know the new baby will be a light for us too, but nobody will ever be able to replace our Lina. She calls Carlisle and Esme Mom and Dad, but each and every one of us feels like she is our own child. In essence I have had two daughters and I love them both so desperately." He sighed and then finished with just more than a whisper, "I don't know how I'm going to let her go."

I put my hand on his cold shoulder as I finally realized exactly how difficult it will be for her family to let her go in a relatively short time. "Edward, you know that you're still going to be a part of our lives. I know it won't be the same, but we live in the electronic age. Between phones, computers, and planes you never have to completely leave those that you love. And we'll visit as often as we can and you all will be welcome to stay with us anytime you like. I know you'll miss seeing her every day, but trust me, she will always be a part of your life."

He smiled at me and nodded before pulling me into an icy hug and walking away. I stood staring out the window at the green sea that separated my Angel from where I stood. It made me sad to know I was taking her away from those she loved. It was going to be hard on everyone, but if we truly wanted the normal life we desire it would be vital for us to stay in one place and set down permanent roots. I sighed deeply before returning to my work. A couple of hours later Edward came in to tell me that it was time to head back and I rushed to shut down my program and follow him, eager to see my Angel again. I know it's silly, but I hate being away from her even for a few short hours. A room without my Angel in it is never as bright as it should be.

As we walked in the door I couldn't hide the big smile on my face as I took in the sight of Bella and Lina both of their shirts dusted with flour. Lina looked even more like an angel with the little smudge of flour on her nose and cheek as she smiled adoringly at her sister. She looked up at me with those beautiful twinkling green eyes and just like every other time I look at her, a warm vibration began at my heart and echoed out through the rest of my body. After they finished cleaning up their mess, Lina invited Edward and Bella to stay and visit as we ate, but they politely declined and made their way back to the main house.

We ate in peace again as we watched the wildlife congregate around the pond in the back yard. The homemade chicken and dumplings were utterly amazing. I loved the southern comfort food that she would make from time to time that were part of the recipes she had inherited from her mother. Renee had a whole card file full of recipes that my sweet Angel treasured more than most people treasure gold and jewels.

After a while she questioned what was going on that her brothers had to talk to me about for so long, and I laughed, unable to lie to her, and told her that we were just giving her and Bella some sisterly bonding time. She laughed and hugged me before getting up to do the dishes. I followed closely behind and helped her before suggesting we relax for the evening and watch a movie.

As we watched I would occasionally feel her tense and I could tell her mind was wandering to the impending arrival of Eleazar. When I would feel her tension building I would do the only thing I knew to do to help her and would gently caress her back or arms or hair just to remind her that I was by her side no matter what and hoped it brought her peace. Finally when we couldn't avoid sleep any longer we made our way back up to bed and curled into one another's arms when I remembered her mentioning me talking in my sleep that morning. I pulled her closer to my chest and whispered into her ear.

"So Angel, what exactly did I say this morning to make you blush?"

She rolled up laying her arms across my chest and resting her chin on her hands as she looked up at me with a wide grin. "Oh, just that I was _ugh,_ _so sexy_." She said the last part deepening her voice in an attempt to sound like mine and with a lustful infection as she chuckled.

"Really?" I said a wee bit embarrassed, and yet relieved that was the worst of it.

"Yeah, and then I asked you if you thought I was sexy to see if you would respond and you said _Ooohhh, yeeeaaah,"_ she answered once again trying to imitate the timber of my voice.

I laughed a little and shrugged, "Well you are, you have no idea how sexy you are even when you don't mean to be."

She looked at me incredulously, "Riiiight, Sure Seth."

"You don't believe me?" I asked and she shook her head no with an incredulous look on her face. "Well, I'll have you know that sometimes when you simply walk into the room I have to rearrange myself into a more comfortable position, if you know what I mean." I said with a waggle of my eyebrows as her jaw dropped open in disbelief.

"No Way!"

"Oh yes, you have no clue how sexy you are, and Oh MY, last night when you were purposefully being sexy I thought I was going to die! It was almost more than my poor heart could stand. It was beating so hard it felt like it was going to explode right out of my chest!"

Suddenly her face shifted from shock and surprise to her sexy crooked smile as she slid up to place a kiss on my lips as her body slipped over from lying beside me to lying on top of me. "Glad to know I have such a strong effect on you." She whispered seductively into my ear before nibbling it with her earlobe. "It's only fair that you should get a taste of what you do to me every time you smile at me. You have no idea how many times a day I have to fight the urge to jump into your arms and rip your clothes off."

I felt myself tense underneath her as her words seemed to run straight to the strain in my underwear. She giggled seductively as she arched her back making her body rub against me. I reached up and pulled her face back to mine for a passionate kiss as I rolled her to lie underneath me and began to kiss down her neck. She giggled at the contact and I stopped looking back up at her with a smile knowing that for whatever reason she wasn't necessarily turned on.

"It's just as well," she whispered at me with an apologetic look, "I don't want to go forcing Edward to make a hasty retreat again so soon after getting home." Ah…that explains it…she's feeling self-conscious because of Edward.

The tightness in my pants relaxed a bit and I knew she was right. I smiled down at her and gave her a couple more delicate kisses before laying next to her again and cuddling back down for sleep trying to remind myself that it really was a good thing that Edward was nearby keeping me on track with my promises…or at least I was trying to convince myself of that.

_**A/N: Please take some time to review and give me your opinions!!**_


	2. Seth in California during Chapter 15

**15. Seth's POV in California during Madness, Mood Swings, and Miracles**

Here I sit alone in my hotel room once again. I'm in beautiful California with invitations to five different elitist Hollywood parties and I can't stand the idea of walking out that door and hobnobbing with the A listers…not without my Angel at my side. I know it's pathetic, but I can't help it, life without her at my side holds no draw for me anymore. I feel like a piece of me is missing when I'm not with her, sort of like a big ragged gaping hole has been ripped in the middle of my soul and being with her again is the only thing that can make me whole again.

I'm sure if you were to ask a psychologist we would be classified as your stereotypical codependent relationship. Someone who didn't understand imprinting and true love would see me as some sick and twisted obsessive loser, and maybe I am, but that doesn't mean I'll be willing to give up my reason for living anytime soon.

I curl up on my bed counting the minutes until I can hear her beautiful voice again. I know right now she's taking care of Nessie, but in half an hour she's supposed to be alone again at our house so we can talk in relative privacy. The sound of the second hand slowly traveling around the circumference of the clock face on the wall mocks me with its slow and droning tick. To pass the time I begin to lose myself in my memories of my Angel.

I still remember as clear as anything the first time I ever saw her face, I mean REALLY saw her face. Jake and Nessie had come to visit La Push for the first time in several years. I was so excited to see them that I practically jumped on Jake when he came in door. I always loved Jake and Nessie like they were another set of siblings. It felt like old times as we sat and reminisced and caught up on life events. They were particularly proud of Nessie's youngest 'sibling', Lina, talking about how pretty she's getting and how mature she is even at the young age of sixteen. They continued to brag on and on about how she has grown into a smart and talented young lady and it was actually getting a little boring, but you could just tell by how their eyes lit up while discussing her that she really was special to them.

I had never met Lina because she joined the family shortly after they moved to the East coast to float a few years in order to avoid people noticing that they didn't age. It was hard on all of us when Jake left with them, but we really did understand. He could never leave Nessie and Nessie couldn't leave her family, so he went with them and disappeared with the exception of the occasional random call and the rare occasions when we would be phased at the same time. We were also kept informed on the family's whereabouts by Charlie and Mom and were all shocked when we found out that they had taken in Bella's younger sister. None of us understood how they would be able to keep a fully human child in the house all of the time and not have issues, but as the years passed they floated along just fine.

Over the years I had seen pictures of Lina and seen her in the pack mind from time to time but truth be known, I did my best to try to not focus on most of what Jake thought of when he was phased due to the trauma I had endured right after he married Nessie. Not only that, but she was just a child and so her face didn't stick in my mind…but that was definitely not the case this time.

Jake and Nessie pulled out the photo album that they had brought along to show off their family around the res and I smiled as I flipped through pictures of all of the faces that I knew and had grown to love over the years. They all looked exactly the same and it was nice to know that some things would never change, and then I flipped one more page and my breath caught in my chest as I saw the most beautiful set of green eyes staring up at me from the page.

It took me a bit before I even noticed any of the rest of the picture because those eyes were so captivating. After a moment my eyes refocused and I took in the rest of the picture and was pleased to find that the rest of the face that held those luminous emerald orbs was just as beautiful and sweet looking. Her eyes were so kind and warm and she had a crooked smile on her full pink lips that actually reminded me of Edward. If I didn't know for a fact that she was Bella's half sister and she didn't have Bella's hair color I would swear she was related to the Edward instead. I don't know how long I lingered over her picture but I was eventually pulled from my reverie by the low chuckle of Jake behind me.

"That would be our Lina. Told you she was really growing up to be a looker…and the best part is she has a heart to match that pretty face of hers."

I smiled at him and nodded before reluctantly turning the page and looking at the other photos, but what nobody else knew was that later, while everyone was out at the bonfire, I snuck back into the house and found the album in the living room and opened it again to stare a bit longer at those luminous green eyes. I had to hurry and return it to its spot and run to the kitchen when I heard the back door open and that was the last time I got to see that picture, but I saw those eyes every time I closed my eyes after that.

I thought about the green-eyed beauty that seemed to be so loved by my friends every day that followed their departure. I know it was insane, but I felt this need to find a way to talk to her and hope that if we didn't hit it off that I could finally purge her from my mind. I started off by calling Jake and Nessie, but they weren't answering their home phone or their cells so I decided to try the Cullen house to see if they were there.

I heard a sweet voice answer the phone that sounded like Bella, but more like Bella when she was younger, and human. I questioned if it was Bella before the realization that she no longer sounded quite like that since her transformation hit me and my heart froze when I heard the sweet voice's response informing me that I was speaking with Lina…the green eyed goddess from the photo album.

We spoke for a few minutes as I tried to sound casual and friendly, but the whole time I kept feeling my mouth grow dry from nerves. Her voice was not going to be helping me purge the images of her anytime soon, in fact I had a feeling she was going to make them worse…especially after she mentioned seeing my picture from Jake and Nessie's vacation and it was nice to have a face to go with the name and I could hear Alice yell in the background that the goddess had liked what she saw. I tried to hide the fact that I had overheard Alice, but I was glad she couldn't see my face, which was filled with a wide grin.

We talked a bit longer before I wished her good luck on her play auditions that evening and hung up having the opposite results than I had initially intended and yet strangely not upset by it. I knew it was impossible with her living on the other side of the country, but at the same time I couldn't help but like the fact that the sound of her voice left me with butterflies in my stomach. I put the phone down on the counter and walked into the living room to talk to Leah and try to get myself back in check and then attempted to focus on work.

'Attempted' to focus on work was right because every time I would try to focus I would see those sparkling green eyes and hear that sweet voice echoing in my head. I kept sneaking peeks at the clock and wondering where she was at the moment. Was she on stage yet? Is she nervous? Why am I obsessing over this girl that I haven't even really met yet? Why did she have to sound so sweet? UGH!

The day crept on and finally the afternoon arrived. I looked at the clock one last time and calculated that it was probably late enough that she might be back home from her auditions by now. I picked up the phone and started to dial and then stopped before pressing the last number suddenly very nervous. I hung up the phone and paced around the room a few times before deciding I was being ridiculous and going back over to pick up the phone again. This time I quickly dialed the number and didn't give myself a chance to hang up. Carlisle answered the phone and I asked for Lina and waited nervously to hear that sweet gentle voice again.

I tried to stay casual, but I mean it was quite obvious that I had an interest in her right? Why else would a guy call a girl just to see if she made it into a play? I still tried to play it cool. I was pleased that she sounded excited to hear from me and so proud of her for gaining the lead. I wasn't surprised though, considering how beautiful her voice was when she spoke, I knew her singing voice was probably quite captivating as well. Suddenly I was very excited for her and did my best to encourage her and eschew her fears. Just as the conversation got flowing unfortunately my work line started ringing and I had to excuse myself.

I paced back and forth in my office for the next couple of hours trying to decide what I should do. I knew the smart thing would be just to forget about the whole situation. It was messed up on so many levels. She was only sixteen and while I had basically been perpetually stuck in my very early twenties, in reality I've been alive for thirty-one years. So right there was the biggest most blaring reason to get this girl out of my head. It's not like she was my imprint or anything. Yes, I found her to be amazingly attractive when I looked at her picture, but there wasn't the 'gravity no longer exists and I have to be in her presence every moment' feeling that I had experienced through the pack mind…so obviously she wasn't my imprint. Beyond that she lived three thousand miles away, so it's not like anything could ever happen. So why torture myself? I should just give this silliness up and let it go.

I nodded my head and sat down at my computer as I tried to focus on my newest project that I had just been signed for the day before. I put my fingers on the keyboard and tried to think html code, but all I could think was _Lina Cullen…Angelina Cullen…Green Eyed Goddess Cullen. What the hell?! Why can't I do this? This need to hear her voice again is getting stronger by the minute. Screw it!_

I picked up my cell phone and wrote out a text message to Nessie.

_Do you think Lina would want to talk to me some more? She's sort of stuck in my head. Does she have a cell phone? Do you think she would let me have her number?_

A few minutes later Nessie texted back.

_LOL…she won't admit it, but I get the feeling she might be in the same boat. Her number is 212-555-4121. We're out now, but I'll text you later and let you know when it's safe to call._

I couldn't help the smile that spread across my face when I read her response. I quickly saved Lina's number in my contact list and sent Nessie a quick text of thanks before finally sitting down and getting some work done knowing I would get to talk to Lina later on. I suddenly felt a burst of inspiration as lines of code flowed out of my hands before I even realized what I was doing. An hour later I had completed some of my best work to date. I sat back and smiled at the screen as my cell phone chirped and a message from Nessie let me know that now was my time.

I picked up my phone and composed a quick message to Lina asking if she was up for a chat and my heart skipped a beat when I got a nearly immediate response that she was awake and willing. I speedily brought up my contacts and hit send and seconds later I was listening to her sweet and gentle voice again. I didn't know what my deal was, but I knew that this girl was special.

I tried to stay as casual as possible and bring up some of the things that Nessie and Jake had shared with me. I was also painfully aware that she had her first date coming up with a guy she met at school. My stomach lurched as I asked her about the plans; I searched for the right words to say in this situation with the girl that I was now trying to build a friendship with despite the fact that a simple syllable from her mouth stole a bit of my breath.

I managed to make it through the conversation though and hung up thinking about Lina. She was off to bed to get some sleep, but I knew that I wouldn't be able to sleep at all, so instead I walked out back and shifted for my first of many runs as I allowed my mind to try to process the situation with Lina. I knew it was so wrong, but at the same time, I was drawn to her. She was incredible. I hadn't had a chance to get to know her very well just yet, but I knew Jake was right; she definitely had a heart that matched her beauty.

I shook my head as I thought about how awful it would have been if I had listened to my fears and not pursued a friendship with my Angel during that time that seemed like a whole other lifetime. I would have missed out on so much! I looked over at the clock and saw the time, picking up the phone to call my Angel when the phone rang in my hand. My breath caught in my chest as I heard the tune, not even needing to look at the screen. It was my Angel.

"Hey beautiful Angel of my dreams! How are you?"

"I'd be a lot better if you were here," she whined.

"Yeah, tell me about it! I miss you so much. California just isn't the same without you."

"Well, after we're married, I am so going with you!"

"Unless you have to miss class to go…you can't sacrifice college for it…" Why was I saying this? OH yeah, she's my imprint and I have to do what's best for her regardless of what I really want.

"Ugh," I could hear her pouting on the other line.

"Hey now, put that pouty lip away or you're going to force me to ditch my meeting tomorrow and fly home to kiss it away!" I threatened wishing I could be there to do it now. I loved when she did the pouty lip thing giving me an excuse to suck on it and kiss her frown away.

"Weeelllll…in that case…" she teased and I couldn't help but smile. I know she misses me when I'm away, but I can't help but wonder if it's as hard for her as it is for me…probably not. She's been keeping busy with her siblings and taking care of Nessie. I did know one thing though; simply hearing her voice went a long way to filing that gaping void in my chest.

I just laid there on the bed with my eyes closed, picturing her beautiful lips saying the words coming through the phone, soaking up every second I could with my Angel before the inevitable moment when we would have to hang up and I'd be incomplete again. I dragged out the conversation as long as I possibly could before I could hear the exhaustion in her voice and knew I needed to let her get to sleep.

As I slowly hung up my phone I could immediately feel the loss of not being in some form of contact with my Angel. I hated the fact that I had two more whole days that I had to be away from her. I walked over to my laptop and opened it to examine my schedule for the next day noticing that I had a meeting in the morning and a few events in the afternoon that I really wasn't going to feel like engaging in…suddenly I had a great idea.

I picked up the phone to call the director's personal assistant explaining that something came up at home and I would not be able to attend the evening activities. Then I immediately picked up the phone to call the airlines to move to a flight late tomorrow morning after my meeting. I smiled when I was all sorted only having to pay an extra hundred dollars for the change. I shrugged it off immediately, one hundred dollars was not a big deal if it meant healing the gaping hole in my chest twenty-four hours sooner. I went to sleep with a big smile on my face knowing that in just over fourteen hours I would have my Angel in my arms again.

I woke up the next morning more than willing to go to my meeting and get the heck out of this town and back home to the woman I loved. To my joy the meeting got out even earlier than I had expected and I rushed to LAX unable to wait to board the plane that would lead me back home.

The whole flight I thought of nothing but my sweet Angel. Her face, her eyes, her soft sweet hair that smelled like her vanilla jasmine shampoo, every thing that I loved and missed flashed through my mind in a repeating slideshow. I remembered the day I imprinted on her and our first glorious kiss and our first make out session at the valley of gold that led to the promise that has been the bane of my existence ever since. It was the right thing to do and I know that, but I have to admit that there are days that I wish so badly we didn't have to wait until she turned eighteen before I could really make love to her. I thought of how my love for her has grown every day since I first saw her face in that photo album forcing my heart to grow and expand each day beyond what I thought was capable. I thought of the night that we discovered Lina's hidden abilities and how amazingly vivid the emotions rippling through my body were, how every inch of me craved to love her forever, how I would spend the rest of my life loving her, and how I couldn't imagine surviving without her. The thought of a life without her twisted my stomach into knots and I knew in the core of my being that it was true, I would not and could not live without her. We were two parts of a whole and I could not survive the rest of my life as half a person.

I was so focused on this fact that I didn't even notice when the wheels touched down on the tarmac and the plane pulled to the gate. Suddenly my mood shifted immediately from dire depression to overwhelming joy and excitement. I would be in the arms of my Angel in two short hours. I ran down to baggage claim and tapped my foot impatiently waiting for the conveyor belt to deliver the bags from my flight onto the carousel. As soon as my bag slid down the chute I had it in my hands and was sprinting for the parking lot. I grabbed the shuttle just as it was getting ready to close its doors and rode impatiently to the long term parking area where my blue Camry waited. In an instant I was in the car and on my way home to my Angel.

I pulled up the drive and parked in front of our house, hoping to surprise Lina if she was there and not wanting to spoil the surprise by the sound of the garage door opening. I walked up to the front door not even bothering to grab my bags out of the car and was met with the sound of blaring music on the front porch. My smile widened when I realized that she was making it way too easy to surprise her.

I peeked through the window to see where she was and I froze unable to breathe as I watched my beautiful Angel walking across the living room with a dust cloth in her hand wearing the outfit that she had worn as a bikini cover up at the beach in California last April, a pair of short cut off blue jean shorts and my blue Hawaiian button front shirt that she had buttoned down to just below her chest and then taken the long unbutton sides and tied them in a knot in the middle of her torso. I immediately recognized that she was probably wearing it to feel closer to me since I was supposed to be in California this very moment.

She looked so amazingly sexy as she rocked back and forth to the beat in perfect cadence, her long muscular legs seemed to go on forever and her thigh muscles would flex temptingly when she would dip down while still shifting to the beat in order to dust the nearby end tables.

She shifted back up with her hands lifted above her head rocking her chest and hips sexily as she made her way toward the mantle over the fireplace and began to dust the high shelf, rising to her tiptoes so she could make sure she was getting all of the remnants making her calves and butt tighten.

I had to resist the urge to burst in at that very moment and grab it as I spin her toward me and pull her against my chest making sure she knew exactly what her sexy dance moves did to me. I gulped hard and tried not to let the hormones raging in my system at the sight of her cheapen my interactions with her. She was my Angel and she deserved to be respected and worshipped, not treated like some kind of cheap floozy.

I stepped away from the window taking a few moments to calm myself and start focusing on her expression when she saw that I was home early. I slowly walked to the door and as quietly as possible twisted the knob and stepped into the entryway closing it behind me and went to lean against the counter separating the living room from the kitchen. She continued to rock seductively and sang along to the lyrics of the song with so much enthusiasm I could no longer stifle a laugh.

I was a little surprised at her reaction. The jump and the scream I expected, the about face with her legs parted, knees bent, and fists raised in a defensive stance was a pleasant surprise leaving a wide proud smile on my face. Obviously her work with Emmett and Jasper was already starting to improve her defensive skills. In the second it took me to register her action and my pleasure that she would be so immediately prepared to defend herself she squealed and ran across the room to jump into my arms wrapping her legs firmly around my waist placing kisses all over my face. Suddenly my fractured self was complete as the final puzzle piece that was my Angel filled me up and made me whole again. I sighed in relief and contentment.

"You weren't supposed to be home until tomorrow!" she blurted loudly between kisses.

"I couldn't stay away another minute so the second my business was done I traded flights." I answered as I crashed my lips into hers pulling her closer and massaging her back. "I missed you Angel!"

"I missed you too! The past two weeks seemed to take FOREVER to pass!" I enthusiastically nodded my head in agreement as I walked over to the long couch and sat down with her still securely wrapped around my waist. Now that I didn't need to hold her up around me, I slid my hands up her sides and neck to grasp her face and pulled her into a long passionate kiss. I could feel her silken hands trace my jaw before slipping into my hair and grasping tightly. I could feel in her kiss that she had missed me nearly as much as I missed her.

We kissed for a long time, but I could feel myself getting carried away again, so I forced myself to pull back and start a conversation about what I had missed while I was gone and telling her about my trip. I was especially interested in how her training with her brothers had been coming along seeing proof of her progress when I had surprised her.

"Does that training include dance lessons? You were busting some pretty sexy moves there, Angel," I said with a little laugh trying to hide the husky desire that was trying to sneak into my words. "I still don't understand how you can love this music so much."

"Hey, if Edward the music aficionado likes it, then it has to have some merit. You just don't know what's good that's all," she giggled while tapping her finger into my chest in attempt to speak with authority that was so adorable.

"Well, if it gets you to move like that, then I can't really harbor too much resentment against it I guess," I answered back unable to hide my ulterior motives any longer. "So do you think we could have a private dance party sometime?"

"Anytime you want baby," she answered with a wink that sent shock waves straight to my groin, "just as long as I get to pick the music."

I laughed lightly trying to ignore the ideas rocking through my brain as I stuck out my hand to shake like a dork, "Deal!"

She looked at my hand and rolled her eyes, which was totally adorable, before grabbing my face forcefully in her hands and crashing her lips into mine with such force that I was surprised at first. It took me a moment to come back to myself before I reciprocated her force pulling her closer, my lips filling with two weeks worth of pent up desire and need.

Eventually we had to come up for air and when I did she sighed looking off toward the main house. "The only bad part about you arriving a day early is Edward." I furrowed my brow wondering how arriving a day early would change our Edward situation.

"I arranged with him to be gone tomorrow so I could welcome you home properly." She sighed again with a pout, which faded too quickly for me to react in my usual manner.

"Ah," I responded with a nod of understanding. I had just opened my mouth to ask her if maybe we should go for a drive or something to have some alone time when her phone started chiming. She shifted on my lap slightly in order to be able to reach the phone in her pocket not even realizing she was rubbing against a sensitive area in her effort, I took in a deep breath and tried to think unsexy thoughts as she read the text message that had just come through.

I saw a slow sexy smile stretch across her face before she looked up at me through her eyelashes in that way that always drives me wild. "It's Edward, he just let me know that he and Bella will be leaving in the next five minutes," she whispered leaning forward before biting her lip seductively as my eyes glazed with desire picturing myself nibbling on that lower lip. A could feel my own sexy grin on my face as I pulled her tighter against my chest, feeling her chest rise and fall with each breath before pulling her into more passionate mind blowing kisses.

I could almost hear the second hand tick by on the clock in the middle of the mantle as I fought to stay on the couch with her for the next five minutes. The second that five minutes were up I stood up again with her still wrapped around me tightly as I carried her up the stairs to our bedroom where I worshipped her several times before the morning came.


	3. Hypothermia and Deceptions SPOV

_**Author's Note: This is the companion to Chasing Away the Shadows chapter 18. This is an all ages chapter that details what the boys were up to while the girls were away and what the big secret the girls haven't been able to squeeze out of them yet really is. Enjoy and please take the time to review to let me know that keeping up these extras are really worth my time and energy!!!**_

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18. Hypothermia and Deceptions

I was vaguely aware of the sound of Lina's phone ringing on her nightstand, but I was so tired that I couldn't open my eyes or even will my body to move. We had returned home shortly after the New Year's toast with the rest of the family and had spent several hours afterward talking and exploring each other, neither of us drifting off to sleep until well after three in the morning. I felt a brush of breeze and heard the rustle of sheets as my gorgeous Angel hid her head under her pillow and groaned. The music stopped for a second and then resumed again and I had to suppress a chuckle as I heard her groan again before hearing items shuffle on the bedside table as she groped blindly for her phone. A little later I heard her muffled voice emanating from under the pillow.

"Alice, this better be important or I'm going to wring your neck!" She was so cute when she was annoyed. She was faster and better equipped than the standard human, but she still couldn't even begin to inflict the bodily harm she often threatened her siblings with which just made it even cuter.

"Who's awake? My head is still hidden under my pillow and my eyes have not opened yet. I am nowhere near awake!"

"New York?" The smile on my face disappeared as I turned to look over at the pillow covering my Angel's head wishing the intrusive thing were gone.

"That was today? I thought we were doing that tomorrow?" I listened intently trying to figure out what exactly the wedding planning obsessed pixie had planned. Today the planning ban was officially lifted and I knew she would become unbearable again.

"Ugh! I never agreed to an overnight! I gave you one day Alice!" My heart sunk in my chest. Overnight? We'd been apart more than I ever care to be the past month with my mandatory California work trip. Even though I had been home a couple of weeks, I still wasn't ready to be away from her for another night just yet. Nights without her were pure torture. I never seemed to be able to stay asleep for very long and so instead I would end up sitting up all night missing her and wishing I were able to hear her steady breathing next to me and feel her warm body in my arms to lull me back to sleep. Distractions never worked at night either. I had tried passing the time in the past by working, reading, or watching movies, but it never helped. It was pathetic I know, but I needed her in my life more than I needed oxygen and when she wasn't with me it felt like I couldn't breathe.

I felt her tense as I barely heard Alice's response through the barrier of fluff that she agreed to one day and Leah had agreed and so that equaled two days. I groaned and then laughed lightly when I heard Lina's response, "You are an evil little manipulative pixie. I love you but there's a very thin line between love and hate and you are toying with it today missy."

As if my Lina could ever hate anybody. Even those vindictive girls at her school who constantly put her down and made her cry at the prom didn't earn her full on hate. Dislike yes, but true hate wasn't something she ever experienced, well except with one exception…the Volturi. I shivered as the thought of the evil shadows that plague our happy existence crossed my mind and just as quickly as the thought entered I pushed it away again.

"Of course you do. See you in a few," she said just before groaning and finally pulling the pillow away revealing her beautiful face that had three cute little lines from the sleeping on the crumpled material of the pillowcase. She blinked a few times at the light orange tinge that was just beginning to paint the morning sky and sighed before rolling toward me. I knew I had a pathetically sad look on my face, but I couldn't help it.

"Alice is stealing you from me overnight?"

"Yeah, I have to be over there in eighteen minutes according to her and we won't be back until tomorrow night." She replied with that beautiful little pout.

I couldn't help the smile that invaded my face a split second before I followed my little tradition and nibbled her delicious lower lip a second before kissing her thoroughly and chasing her frown away. It always filled my chest with warmth when I would hear her giggle and see her blush in response to my efforts. I pulled her to my chest possessively and buried my nose in her beautiful brown tresses taking a deep breath in an attempt to memorize her scent that would elude me for the next thirty-six plus hours.

"What am I supposed to do without you for two whole days?" I knew I was whining, but I didn't care.

"I'm sure you and the boys will figure something out. It will give you a chance to get to know your future brother in law a bit better too. You and Danny have had no real time to get to know one another at all. This might be your best shot."

"You know this will be miserable right? Two imprinted wolves and the only living male imprint forced to be away from our soul mates for two whole days…it's going to be pathetic."

Her laughter was the sweetest music as she leaned forward and kissed my cheek, "I'm sure it won't be that bad. It's better than two whole weeks apart. We will survive."

She started to roll out of bed and suddenly my chest ached so badly I couldn't bear it. I grabbed my arms around her waist and unashamedly begged. "Just one more minute? _Please_?"

She sighed and to my joy she curled back into my chest. After a couple of minutes she tried to pull herself back out of my grasp and I held on for dear life. In all the years I would live, I would never be able to just willingly let her out of my grasp knowing she would be away from me for more than a few short hours.

It took every bit of strength in my body to force myself to let her go after she begged and pleaded and even started offering to bring me back authentic New York Cheesecake. Not like I would ever trade time with her for a stupid cheesecake, but I knew that she was looking forward to getting the wedding planning things done and that this was one expedition that us guys were not allowed to be a part of.

I fought against the sense of loss when she finally pulled away out of my arms and disappeared from my sight to the bathroom. I listened to the last sounds of her in the house was the shower flowed on the other side of the wall and I imagined her standing there in all of her glory washing off the grit of the day and night in a rush to get over to appease her militant pixie sister who would be difficult to live with if she was even a minute late. I closed my eyes and focused on the sounds as she got dressed and pounded down the stairs and out the front door with a resounding slam that echoed in my chest. She was gone and I wouldn't see her again until tomorrow night. Then my eyes shot open as I remembered I could have one last glance. I jumped up and ran to the window with a smile as I saw her jog with her wet hair bouncing on her back as she disappeared into the trees that lined the trail connecting our property to the main house.

When she was once again out of sight the sadness returned as I slowly walked across the room to our dresser and pulled out some clothes for the day. I knew I was up for the day now because any attempt to go back to sleep would be met with frustration without her with me. I sighed before showering, dressing, and dejectedly making my way over to the main house to see what was planned for the day. I certainly wasn't going to mope around the house all alone, so I figured I might as well try my Angel's suggestion and take the opportunity to get to know my future brother in law a little better.

I walked in to find a sight that brought bittersweet memories to mind. On the dining room table lay a full compliment of fishing gear and it reminded me of the days when I was young when I would go fishing with my Dad, Charlie, and Billy. My Dad and Charlie were constantly fishing and by the time I was four I was so sick of eating fish for supper that just the sight of one wanted to make me gag…that was until my Dad decided I was old enough to come along. Out on a cold morning, surrounded by the serenity of nature, I found myself appreciating the draw of fishing. It was calm and peaceful and most of all quiet. I spent many happy mornings throughout my early years fishing on the banks of the various local rivers with my Dad and at times his best friends. I was so lost in my memories that I hadn't even heard Charlie enter the room until he was standing behind me.

"You wanna come along? I've got plenty of gear for the two of us if you want to son."

I always liked Charlie and thought he was a real stand up guy. When my Dad passed away he was such a wonderful support system for my Mom who was so lost without her husband of twenty years, and then it was kind of weird for me when their relationship changed about a year after my Dad died and they ended up dating. The strain didn't last long though. It was easy to see how happy he made my Mom and he was so good to her and anyone could see how much he loved her. It was just Charlie's way to call me son, but it took a little while for me to no longer bristle at the word. After all, my father was dead and gone…I was no man's son anymore, but I knew that to Charlie I was and with time it no longer bothered me to have him refer to me in that way. Somehow we really had all eventually merged into one happy family. Granted it took a bit longer with Leah, but once Danny was in her life, the last little bits fell into place.

"That sounds really good Charlie. Thank you."

"Sure. I'll be glad to have the company and hopefully a guide who knows this area a bit better than I do."

We took some time to put together sack lunches and Charlie bundled up for the cold air waiting to brutalize him outside. We were just loading up the last of the gear when Jake and Danny sauntered over from Jake's house.

"Where you going guys?" Jake called out just before they got to us.

"Eh, We thought we'd go check out a few fishing holes this morning, see if we can catch us a nice manly supper for tonight."

"Hey cool! Can we come along? I've never been fishing. It sounds like fun!" Danny piped up from his place next to Jake. Charlie and I exchanged a look knowing that these two guys didn't know the meaning of the term 'peace and quiet.'

"Sure, if you'd like. We only have enough gear for two though." Charlie hedged hoping to find a reason for them not to join us.

"Well there's plenty of gear in the garage," Jake cheered. "That won't be a problem at all. Danny, you probably need to go grab some warmer clothes though or you'll freeze. I'm figuring you didn't pack enough grub for all of us so I'll go put together some more to eat and we'll be back out to meet you in ten."

A forced smile spread across Charlie's face but the other two boys didn't seem to notice. "Alright boys, we'll wait here for you."

Charlie and I settled into the car and I heard a deep sigh escape Charlie as he stared out at the dark tree line. I chuckled as I saw the two lumbering guys emerge from the house loaded down with gear and food. The rest of the guys had all gone hunting and thankfully Emmett had graciously offered his jeep for Charlie to borrow. Now with Jake and Danny along for the ride, the large jeep was a necessity.

After a long drive we ended up a few miles up the road from the overlook that looked down on the Valley of Gold. During my wolf explorations I had discovered that the pond at the bottom of the waterfall fed into a small river that flowed down and came very close to the road a few miles away from our beloved overlook. As we broke through the tree line after a short hike from the road, Charlie was very pleased with the small alcove we settled into and baited our lines casting them out into the water with our eyes set on Walleye which typically live at the base and outflows from waterfalls. Immediately Charlie and I both started getting hits on our lines and before long each had several nice sized fish for our troubles.

The peace however only lasted about an hour before the boys got restless and bored since neither of them had caught a single fish yet thanks to their impatience. It didn't take long before they were doing more wrestling and joking around than fishing. I saw it coming only moments before it happened. It was irresponsible of Jake to be wrestling with Danny to begin with considering that he could very easily injure him considering our superior strength, but then again, Jake wasn't that responsible about seventy-five percent of the time. Charlie had just caught his fifth walleye and I was just about to reel in the one that just nibbled my line when I heard a huge splash and heard Jake yell out "Oh Shit!"

The nibbler on my line disappeared and just beyond the end of my line I saw Danny burst out of the frigid water sputtering and spitting out water as he gasped for air. I began to panic knowing that the water was probably just barely above freezing and that he would be in immediate danger of hypothermia. We tossed out a blanket for him to grab and helped pull him to shore quickly helping him back to the Jeep leaving all of our gear behind in our rush. I handed Charlie my cell phone to call Carlisle as I helped Jake get Danny back to the car. When we got the Jeep we followed Carlisle's instructions and helped Danny strip out of his wet clothes and since it was Jake's fault I made Jake do the same. Carlisle had said the best way to warm him would be skin-to-skin contact. We turned the heater up full blast in the Jeep and if I hadn't been in full panic mode for Danny's safety I would have been laughing to the point of tears at the sight in the back seat.

Danny and Jake were both stripped down to their boxers and both had the most uncomfortable postures and looks on their faces as Danny leaned against Jake's side and Jake wrapped his arms around Danny. I reached back and covered them both with the jackets that Charlie and I shed on our way into the car and about halfway home I was thankful to see that Danny's lips were starting to fade back to pink from the dark blue they had become only minutes after he had fallen into the ice-cold river.

When we arrived back at the house Charlie and I rushed inside. Charlie ran up to grab some warm clothes to put on Danny for the walk into the house and I ran upstairs to start a hot shower and back down to the living room to start a fire in the fireplace. I was halfway done getting the tinder and kindling together when I heard the door behind me open and close and turned to see a distressed looking Danny run up the stairs and slam the door to the bathroom behind him. Jake followed soon after with a haunted look on his face as he sat in the deep armchair by the fireplace and rubbed his face with his hands.

"That was scary man," he finally whispered as the flames caught in the hearth.

"Yeah, at least he's home and warming up now. It wasn't the brightest move to be wrestling with him to begin with bro. I mean you could really hurt him if you slipped up."

"I know, but we've been wrestling for years and we were both bored to tears."

"Yeah, I had a feeling you would be, but I didn't want to say as much. So how bad do you think Leah's going to kill you when she finds out about this?"

"Oh God, I don't even want to think about that," he said with a laugh, "Ness either for that matter. This sucks you know. I hate being away from Nessie, but to have both of my girls gone, it's horrible."

"Tell me about it. I never thought about the fact that you must be missing Sarina too. That's rough."

"Totally, and I mean I just got her. I hope she doesn't forget who I am while she's gone."

I laughed, "Not likely Jake, you're her Daddy and she knows that. If she missed you an hour after she was born, she'll definitely miss you and remember you now that she's gotten a chance to bond with you."

He smiled, "I really hope so. I thought I was whipped before, but man, you don't know whipped until you have a baby. They rule your whole world."

It was my turn to smile now. I loved the idea of a future with Lina where she's round with my child and then we get to have a beautiful little combination of the two of us as living proof of our love. I relished the day when our family of two would become three and maybe someday four.

Jake and I sat in silence for the next few minutes before we were joined by Danny who still appeared to be a bit uncomfortable as he sat on the floor next to the fireplace stretching his hands toward the fire to warm them. He looked much better now and only seemed to have a few emotional scars to show for the ordeal. A short time later we heard Charlie roar back in front of the house in the Jeep with all of our gear and spoils of our trip in hand and proceeded to clean and prepare the fish while I took time to put the gear away.

Carlisle and Edward returned shortly after Charlie to check on Danny and make sure he was okay. The second Edward walked into the room he started laughing and covered his forehead with his hand. Finally, shaking his head, he walked over to place a comforting hand on Jake's shoulder as he listened to Carlisle give Danny a clean bill of health.

A few hours later, Charlie and I worked together to cook up the fish that we had caught that morning and were even kind enough to share our bounty with the wrestling goofballs. While we were eating Emmett and Jasper rolled in and joined us as we all gathered around the table talking. We were a sad lot to say the least. Every single one of us were pining for our mates, none of us knowing what to do with ourselves without them here. Time passed and we all sat talking and having no clue what to do to pass the time. Finally at ten at night all of our cell phones went off at the exact same time and we all jumped to answer them and walked off to different parts of the house to talk in relative privacy.

My poor Angel sounded both exhausted and exasperated at the same time. She told me all about their horrific afternoon of shopping with Alice and how upset everyone was. I felt so bad for her and wished I could be there to hold her close to me and comfort her. I could almost hear the tears of frustration threatening to fall from her beautiful green eyes as she spoke.

"Angel, this is our wedding. If you don't want one of the fancy designer dresses then that's your choice. Just make the appointment with the bridal shop and if Alice doesn't like it then too bad."

"I feel horrible in a way, she's trying so hard and she does it all out of love, but this is my wedding and I want it to feel like it's my wedding, not me stepping into the bridal spot in Alice's wedding…you know?"

"Yes, I do. Have you told her that…I mean using the exact same words you just used with me?"

"Yes and no."

"Can't be both, babe."

"Well, I guess I haven't used those EXACT words."

"You should. She loves you and I really think she would understand."

She sighed and I could hear a rhythmic thumping sound and was pretty sure she was abusing herself in some way in her frustration. I made her promise to talk this out with Alice and salvage what was left of their time in New York with something more fun and she finally agreed before I opted to distract her from her annoyance.

The laughter that flowed from the phone as I recounted the story of our less than ideal fishing trip this morning was music to my ears. I could tell that tears were falling from her eyes as she laughed so hard that she was left gasping for air. After a few moments I heard her apologizing to Nessie and told me that she had just gotten in trouble for almost waking up the baby. We talked a few minutes longer before I reluctantly bid her good luck talking to her sister and whispered my vows of love and devotion before wishing her a good night's rest, and once again I had the big ragged hole in my chest that I always felt when we were apart.

I walked back into the dining room to find everyone but Jasper had returned looking nearly as dejected as I felt. We all slumped at the table until finally Jasper joined us and looked over at me with a small apologetic smile and a slight eye roll that pulled a chuckle from my chest. We all sat in the quiet for a few minutes before Danny jumped up from his seat.

"This is ridiculous guys. We're a bunch of grown men who can't find anything to occupy their time when the ladies are not around? Please! Lets get out of here and go somewhere."

"Like?" I asked not knowing of anything that was open at this time of night.

"I don't know…a bar or something. I know you vamps don't drink, but it could still be fun. We can shoot some pool, play some darts, just chill out. I think our problem is the location. If we go somewhere else that we don't usually spend time with the girls at then maybe we can shake ourselves out of this a bit."

"It has been a while since we had a good pool tournament Edward. I think I could go for a night out." Emmett had a big wide smile at the end of the table.

Edward shrugged, "Sure, why not?"

Jasper nodded but looked a tad uneasy. I had a feeling he wanted to be able to take calls from Alice if she needed him again. Charlie and Carlisle were the only two who really seemed uncomfortable with the idea though.

"Why don't you kids go ahead…I'll just stay here, maybe see if there's anything on ESPN Sport Center." Charlie hedged from his seat near Carlisle.

"Yes, I agree, I could get some more reading done." Carlisle added.

"Oh come on guys," Danny pled.

Finally after a bit of coercion, Charlie and Carlisle agreed and we were all off to find a bar open that seemed a feasible option. We piled into Emmett's Jeep and made our way into the nearest larger city. Carlisle was pretty adamant that he not be seen anywhere locally since he was an upstanding member of the community. To our relief, we each got a text message from our ladies letting us know that the New York crisis had been averted after which Danny flipped open his cell phone and looked into his GPS to find local bars and landed on one called _Deceptions_.

We walked in and made our way over to an open table on the far side of the room and Jake and Danny went up to buy a round for the humans. As I looked around my first thought was that the vampire members of our party fit in very well here, every guy in this place looked like they stepped right out of a fashion magazine. I had never seen a room so full of perfectly straight white teeth, perfectly coifed hair, and name brand designer clothes…and wait a minute…very, very few women.

I looked around the table and locked eyes with Edward whose eyes were just as large and round as my own. He slowly shook his head in agreement and I gulped unsure as to how to break the news to the rest of the table who appeared to still be blissfully unaware, with the exception of Jasper who appeared to be very confused.

Jake and Danny returned with a tray loaded with beers and commenting on the music and the really nice guy they met at the bar who offered to pay for Danny's drink before he saw that Jake already had him covered. I stifled a snicker and started to open my mouth to say something when I saw Edward stiffen across the table from me two seconds before a very drunk woman in a short sequin dress and high heels sank into Emmett's lap caressing his chest and slurring sweet nothings in Emmett's ear in a very deep and husky voice…too deep and husky. Just then the 'woman' turned to check out the rest of the table revealing 'her' very prominent adam's apple.

Emmett's eyes grew wide and he immediately stood up setting the drunken transvestite on the table and turning to walk away. I looked around to see the rest of the men in our party looking around with understanding and shock flooding their faces as they all jumped up and silently followed Emmett out of the club. We rode in silence all of the way home, each one of us with haunted looks on our faces. As we pulled in front of the house the only words spoken were from Emmett.

"If any of you spill one word of this to any of our girls I will personally smash your face in. We never speak of it again. Deal?"

He looked to each one of us as we all nodded in agreement and immediately went our separate ways and I went straight to bed after a fast shower to get the smell of _Deceptions_ off of me and then cuddled up to my Angel's pillow taking in a deep gulp of her beautiful scent. I let out a small chuckle as I considered the fact that Deceptions was the perfect name for the club. We were certainly caught off guard. I so wished I could tell my Angel about this night, I could just imagine the beautiful laughter that it would bring, but alas it would not be worth being pummeled by Emmett. I thought some more about how much I missed my Angel and being enveloped in her scent relaxed me just enough that I finally fell asleep and was able to be with her in my dreams.

The next morning I stayed in my house avoiding seeing the other guys. I put myself to work trying to get a small project done that I wanted to surprise her with for after our wedding. I had been working while she was in school to compile a website that would have private access for her alone to see that walked you through our relationship with pictures of both of us that I had collected from her family. I knew she would love it and no matter where she was, as long as she had web access, she could look at it and remember how special she was to me.

As I worked I kept looking down at my ring. I loved the fact that she bought me an engagement ring that we would later use as my wedding band. It was just another way to show how perfect she was for me because if I had a chance to choose any ring out of all the rings in the world, I was quite confident that I would have been drawn to this very one. I spun it on my finger with my thumb as I observed the delicate etching with the diamond finish that made it glint and sparkle in the sunlight even though there were no gemstones imbedded in the precious metal. I slipped it off and turned it around so I could once more read the perfect inscription and then inspired pulled my digital camera off the charging dock by the monitor putting it on a special setting for close up shots and took images of the inscription before taking more photos of the exterior and the sliding it back on my hand and taking some final frames of it on my finger. I uploaded all of the pictures and added them to the website with a very special message for her to see later and finally satisfied with my progress for the day shut down the computer.

I looked up to see the time and sent a quick text message asking my Angel how much longer before she would once again grace me with her presence. I couldn't wait to have her back in my arms and do my best to forget the horrors of the day before. I was even more excited when she wrote back saying that they were only an hour away.

I watched the clock as the minutes seemed to tick by unbearably slowly. I was even more pleased when I got another text informing me that they were making better time than they realized and were only about ten miles away from the house. I replied that I was more than a little eager to see her and took off to wait on the front porch of the main house for their return.

I cleared the tree line to see that I wasn't alone. All of the guys had congregated on the front porch to await the return of our reasons for living. We greeted one another with half hearted hellos none of us willing to make real eye contact. When the vans pulled into the clearing surrounding the house, we were all instantly on our feet and at the doors of the vans before they had even come to a complete stop.

The girls all had matching looks of confusion as we the we each grabbed the hand of our loved ones with the vamps disappearing instantly, and Jake and Nessie following closely behind with Sarina's car seat held securely in Jake's hand, leaving Lina and I staring bewildered at Mom, Charlie, Leah, and Danny.

We all stood in silence for a moment before breaking into laughter as I took Lina's hand and led her toward the path back to our house as my sister and my mother led their guys to their rooms. I was so happy to have my Angel back with me, just the feel hand in mine made my heart soar.

We were halfway down the path to our house when she broke the silence. "So what exactly happened this weekend? I've never seen the guys so desperate for alone time with their wives."

I laughed and shook my head hoping I could get her to drop the subject. "Trust me, you don't want to know."

"Oh, I bet I do!" _No such luck_. I thought to myself. _Oh well, what can I do to get her to forget about all of that…well there's always…_

I led her the last few steps up to our front door and swept her up into my arms bridal style carrying her through the front door smiling my most dazzling smile at her. "Do you want to hear the stories or would you rather go upstairs with me? I REALLY missed you!" It was true at least. I did really miss her and I was dying to get her upstairs anyway.

She threw her head back and laughed making a surge of warmth course down my spine as she wrapped her fingers through my hair and pulled me down press her luscious lips to my own. "Okay, rain check on story time, but I will be cashing it in later." She giggled with a seductive wink before pulling me back to her lips again. I started toward the stairs but froze when I heard her yell…

"Wait! We need to put this cheesecake in the fridge first." She was holding up a white pastry box in front of my face that I hadn't even noticed until that moment. I was amazed at how unobservant being in her presence could make me from time to time.

"You really brought me back cheesecake?" I couldn't help the huge smile I had on my face. I was so pleased that with all of the drama she had remembered that she had promised to bring one home for me. I could have cared less about the darn cheesecake, but the fact that she remembered me while she was gone meant the world to me.

"Of course silly, I did promise after all!" I laughed and kissed her once more before walking to the fridge and allowing her to open the door and put the box on the top shelf before turning back to carry her up the stairs to our bedroom.

Once there I took my time appreciating all of the different aspects of my Angel. I loved the feel of her smooth skin as I caressed her gently before following my touch with butterfly kisses. I loved her so much and I took my time being sure I showed it in every way possible before snuggling up to bury my face in her long dark hair so that her essence filled my lungs with every breath as I slept that night.

I awoke the next morning to the annoying squawk of her alarm clock. I was suddenly instantly awake and rolled over to grab her and pull her back against me once again.

"Baby, I have to go. The girls and I are going dress shopping today."

"Nooo, you just got back." I whined holding her tighter not willing to let her go when she had only returned to me less than twelve hours before.

"Yes, and we didn't get anything taken care of, so today we're going to David's Bridal to see what they have there."

"Can I come too then?" What can I say? I was desperate to be with her, even if it meant sitting around a waiting room surrounded by foofy dresses.

She smacked me on the arm with a resounding pop, "Heck no! What part of the word BRIDAL confuses you? You can't watch me shop for my wedding dress. I want it to be a surprise for you. No peeking!"

I pouted in my frustration, but was rewarded by her nibbling my lip before kissing my frown away. We both laughed as she placed one more kiss on my lips before quickly springing out of my reach and running across the room to the door. I jumped up and ran after her, slowing my step just a tad to allow her to think she almost made it and just as she reached for the door knob I reached out and wrapped my arms around her waist pulling her up against my chest leaving her legs to dangle uselessly in front of her. She squealed and laughed as she kicked her legs wildly in the air and her reaction tickled me too. I was smiling ear to ear as I stalked over toward the bed and spun her to face me as I dropped her on the mattress and stretched down over her to place a long sweet kiss on her lips. I instantly deepened it and I knew she was completely lost in the intensity of our kiss. I slowly lifted her slightly and maneuvered us so we were once more in the middle of the bed with our heads resting on our pillows.

After a couple of minutes she pulled away seemingly surprised to be back in the middle of the bed. Her cute little brows furrowed in concentration and then a light flashed behind her eyes as she looked at me slyly and started in.

"Okay, well, if I'm staying here with you then you have to dish about whatever it is that happened yesterday that you don't want to have to tell me about… but if you let me go then I'll see if I can pull it out of the girls while shopping today and you might just get off the hook."

I considered for a moment if it was worth the pummeling by Emmett to keep her in bed a bit longer. Finally deciding that she definitely wanted to have help sorting out the dress issues and since my sister was in town this was her last chance to sort out all of the brides maids at once I decided it was best to let her go without a fuss. I didn't want to, but she needed to do this. I leaned over and gave her one last short kiss and a wish of good luck in finding what she wanted on her trip. She smiled and jumped out of bed running to the bathroom to take a shower before rushing over to the main house leaving me alone once again for the day. I tried to take solace in the fact that at least she would be in my arms again that night and then another stroke of genius hit for my special surprise project for her and I hopped out of bed and ran to the office to see if I could make it work.

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Author's Note: A picture of Seth's ring can be found in the link to the Chapter 18 link under Chasing Away The Shadows links in my profile page. Hope you guys liked the chapter and please take the time to share your thoughts!


	4. Revelations

**_Author's Note: This is Seth's POV of chapter 19 in Chasing Away the Shadows and I actually like this version BETTER than the main story version, so I had to post it. This is a T rated chapter so any of you guys can safely read. My Beta is on Vacation, so if it's messy in places I do apologize. Please take the time to review and to go to my profile and register your opinion in regard to Seth and Lina's future! I don't promise to go with the victor, but I am curious as to your opinions…PMs are also welcome._**

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19. Revelations SPOV

The week following our disastrous trip to the bar was total torture as Lina continued to hound me on a daily basis trying to deduce what had happened. The day the girls went dress shopping locally Emmett rounded up the boys and concocted a ridiculous cover story that I knew my Angel was far too smart to fall for and insisted we all go along. He forced us all to promise and so I went along against my better judgment. I was pretty sure that the fall out from our falsehood would be far worse than just admitting what happened and being done with it, but Emmett wouldn't hear of it insisting that we stick with the plan.

I was relieved to find that the subject had evaded our conversation that first night after Emmett's inane plan was implemented, but the next morning I wasn't so lucky. I fed her the official story, which was met with a narrowed look of skepticism from my beautiful and quite intelligent Angel. She knew each and every one of us men involved far too well to fall for the poorly constructed cover, which led to twice daily questions of clarification over the next several days.

I could tell that with each passing day she was more and more convinced that I wasn't telling the whole truth and finally this morning she cornered me in my office and refused to back down. Finally she slouched with a sad sigh and looked up at me with the most disappointed look.

"Just stop, Seth. I know this sorry excuse for a cover story isn't the whole truth. Why won't you tell me the whole thing? Is it THAT bad?" She looked up at me as though I had betrayed her and my chest tightened as though someone had reached into my chest and put a stranglehold on my beating heart.

"No Angel, nothing that bad happened…I promise you." I clutched her face in my hands with desperation in my eyes. I couldn't let her think even worse than what really happened. This was all so ridiculous and I seriously considered just telling her and letting the Emmett chips fall where they may.

"You promised you would never lie to me…and I KNOW you are lying, or at least lying through omission."

My shoulders slumped and I felt completely deflated. She was right. Even if I wasn't technically telling a full on lie, I was definitely lying through omission, which I swore I would never do. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. "I want to tell you, but it's not my story to tell."

"What do you mean it isn't your story to tell?" She trilled an octave higher than her normal voice as she stood straight with her fists balled on her hips.

I looked her straight in the eye with all the sincerity I could muster through a simple look and sentence. "Trust me Angel, if I could tell you I would. I know you'd laugh so hard you would cry, but I seriously am not at liberty to share."

I saw a mysterious glimmer sparkle in her eyes as she smiled a wide devious smirk, "So is this an honor code thing or a threat upon your life sort of thing…and remember that you have to tell me the truth."

I knew in that instant that she probably had it figured out and I was hoping that even this small admission would not bring down the wrath of Emmett. I mumbled in barely more than a whisper, "It's kind of both."

A wide smile captivated her sweet pink lips as she tipped up on her toes to plant a kiss full of forgiveness and desire on my lips before asking me to excuse her and stomping with determination down the stairs and toward the front door. I sat there for a second as I realized what was about to happen and suddenly panicked that she might bite off a little more than she could chew. I jumped up and ran to follow her, staying a few feet behind her all the way to the house. Once she was inside I sped my step the last few feet pulling open the door and rushing through the kitchen just in time to see her step between Jake, Emmett, and Jasper and the TV that they were playing an intense looking war game on and flicked off the power with a snap of her wrist.

I saw the anger flash in Emmett's face and the tension rise in the room as he and Jake began to protest and I tensed getting ready to jump in between them and shoulder the brunt of the attacks, but before I could react Edward suddenly appeared at her side and looked at me with an expression that suggested I stay back. I nodded and leaned against the doorframe that separated the kitchen from the living room folding my arms across my chest and my legs at the ankles.

I had to suppress a laugh as my beautiful five foot eight inch tall Angel turned abruptly with anger brewing in her emerald eyes as she once again lifted her fists to her hips, set her jaw, and stepped toward Emmett to stand face to chest with his six foot four bulky marble like frame. I had to suppress a chuckle as it made me think of a cocker spaniel staring down a pit bull. With not even the slightest hint of fear or anxiety she locked her eyes on his as he started speaking, looking much like a parent preparing to scold their child.

"What the hell did you do that for? I had them beat Lina!" He yelped down at her with a funny look of apprehension on his face.

"Forget the stupid video game," she snapped up at him. "Emmett McCarty Cullen, what exactly did you threaten my fiancé with to keep him from admitting whatever the hell it was you guys were up to while we were gone to New York?"

Anger burned in Emmett's eyes and for the moment I was very glad that Edward was standing at her side in the moment instead of me. "That little shit, why did he have to go and tell you anything about it?"

Her eyes flashed with a look of triumph as she got him to openly admit that there in fact was something worth telling and that he was the one insisting it stay a secret. "Actually big brother, you told me all I needed to know right there. He didn't do anything besides finally admit that he wasn't at liberty to talk about it once I reminded him that he promised to never lie to me, which you evidently threatened him into doing. So now brother bear, YOU get to tell me what happened instead of my poor honor bound fiancé!"

Emmett looked down at the face of my Avenging Angel with his mouth unhinged for a moment before the large marble statue of a man seemed to crumble before my very eyes like the walls of a child's sand castle as a penitent look invaded his face. He slowly sunk into the couch closing his mouth as the ladies of the family suddenly materialized from various places in the house with humorous glints in their eyes. You could tell that they were glad to finally hear the big mystery and also proud of my sweet little Angel beating the big bear into submission with a simple look. He leaned forward and rubbed his hands hard against his face before looking back up at her with a look of total embarrassment. Emmett could dish out ridicule with the best of them, but he was definitely not as good at taking it and he knew this one was going to be in the family annals of everlasting humorous tales.

"It was just stupid and too embarrassing to share kiddo. It was a 'in the really wrong place at the really wrong time' kind of thing."

"Yeah, and you've NEVER gone out of your way to share embarrassing stories about any one of us who live here have you? Shame on you!" She was now standing over him with her arms crossed over her chest removing one to shake a finger at him in a scolding gesture.

"Hey! I wasn't the only one embarrassed, I mean Danny was the one who almost got picked up by a dude at the bar!"

Her eyebrows lifted and her eyes twinkled as a gorgeous smile of victory flitted around the corners of her lips. "Bar?" His eyes shot up at her and he knew he was sunk. Silence filled the room for a long time before she finally sighed, "Go on Emmett. I'm not walking away until I hear the whole thing."

He growled and narrowed his eyes at her before he started. "Okay fine. It was Danny's fault really. Chump isn't even here to suffer the consequences either."

She interrupted him, "Oh don't you worry about that. I will be calling my soon to be sister in law and mother in law and letting them both in on the joke once we're done here. Continue."

He groaned and leaned his head against the back of the couch. "Alright, alright…We were all pathetic losers without you guys. We sat around all night with nothing better to do and when you all called after you got to the hotel we were all so happy to hear from you it was sad. After we were done talking we were all sitting around sulking when Danny suggested we go out on the town and find a bar or something to go hang out at."

He paused again not wanting to continue, but she prodded him further. He rolled his eyes. "Okay, so Edward and I agreed to go because we were going to have a pool tournament and Carlisle and Charlie were going to stay home, but we finally convinced them to come too. Carlisle didn't want to go to anyplace locally because of his status in the community so we drove to Charleston. We had no clue where to go so Danny used the GPS on his cell phone and found a place and we went there."

She was so hilarious as she nodded her head and flitted her hand in of him motioning for him to continue while tapping her foot impatiently looking now like an annoyed grade school teacher. He sighed again before leaning forward and blurting something out to quickly for me to understand, but I knew it must have been a very quick explanation of what had transpired when the entire room was suddenly filled with loud boisterous laughter. I looked at my beautiful glowing Angel and she was doubled over her mouth opened wide in a completely uninhibited fit of laughter as tears rolled down her face. She then fell to her knees and her head tossed back toward the sky and her hair rippled around her as my whole world blurred and all I could see was her glorious happy face. She was simply the most beautiful sight I had ever seen in my life in that moment and I was once again reminded of how incredibly lucky I was.

Finally after several entirely too short minutes her laughter softened and her tears dried and she finally looked up to see me still propped in the doorway where I had been throughout the entire exchange with the everlasting wide smile on my face. She smiled back at me with a knowing nod and I winked at her.

I was finally pulled from my little world where only she existed when I heard Emmett's voice whining again from the couch.

"It's not funny! It was the most horrifying experience of my life. I swear if I could sleep I would be having nightmares every night about it!" He pouted from his place on the couch with his arms crossed over his broad chest and Rosalie moved over to sit next to him looking up at him through her lashes and rubbing his arm comfortingly.

"It's okay baby. You know you're hot, now you know that EVERYBODY agrees!" She chuckled a little, but was pleased to see him relax a bit at her words even if they were poking a little bit more fun at him.

The rest of the guys and I finally opened up about our own points of view of the events and I especially got a kick out of Jasper's take on things. I had known he looked confused from the moment we sat down.

He was half laughing as he told the girls, "As soon as we walked in the door I was hit with the typical wall of lust and desire that you find in a bar, but once we got seated and I looked around, I didn't see enough women to be creating that level of lust. I was so confused for a while until Danny came back explaining about the guy who tried to buy him a drink and then less than two seconds later the 'lady' in the sequined dress dropped into Emmett's lap and I recognized that 'she' was really a he and then it all fit."

Yep…that definitely explained the look on his face!

After a few more stories Lina finally walked over to the couch where Emmett was still pouting and plopped down next to him laying her head on his huge bicep and looking up at him through her lashes with wide doe eyes as she charmed him into lightening up and forgiving her. She was so adorable and honestly I couldn't believe how long it took him to actually cave under her sweet and innocent act. I would have caved long before he did. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder giving her a hug before admitting to her that she was probably the only person in the world who could get him to crack. I laughed at that knowing it was probably true. Everyone in this family had a soft spot for Lina, but I think Emmett was the softest when it came to her. Even when he teased her, it was never with quite the vigor and vulgarity that he utilized with the rest of the family. She was definitely something special and he knew it just as well as the rest of us did.

Lina was excited to get back home and call my Mom and sister to clue them in on the true nature of our little secret. I did feel bad for Danny though. At this rate, he was bound to never want to spend any time with me again seeing as how every time we engaged in any type of bonding experience it seemed to lead to him encountering some sort of uncomfortable male related experiences. I chuckled to myself as I went back up to the office to resume the work I was involved in when Lina interrupted me determined to know the truth. I could hear her beautiful musical laughter float up the stairs from the living room as she told my sister what she had learned today and it left a smile on my face. I was glad I no longer had to keep the secret from her. I swore to myself that if I could help it in any way, it would be the last secret I would ever keep from my beautiful Angel.


	5. Dancing With Cinderella Edward POV

**Author's Note: So I couldn't resist trying to get into Edward's head during the brother's dance…so here it is…Also I usually don't ask my beta to check my extras since I keep her busy enough, so if there are errors I do apologize. I read it multiple times, but a lot of times I find I automatically read what it's supposed to say instead of what's really there! Anyway, enjoy!**

_**Disclaimer: As usual, I don't own the rights to the twilight characters or any of the songs mentioned in this story or this chapter. No copyright infringements intended! **_

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26. Dancing With Cinderella Edward POV

It had been an emotional day for everyone. I could hear it in each and every one of my family's minds and saw it written all over Bella's eyes, it was so hard to let our little princess go. Yes, we weren't really having to let her go completely yet, we had a few more months before they would relocate for the remainder of her college education, but this was a glaring physical reminder of how close that day really has gotten.

From the very moment she entered our lives we knew that if she chose to live out a human existence, as we all hoped she would do, that we would have to say goodbye. It was never going to be possible for her to live any semblance of a normal human life while living under the same roof as the rest of us, and if she had fallen in love with any other normal human with no ties to our less than ordinary world, it would have meant having to say goodbye to her completely. We were all clinging desperately to the great joy it gave us in knowing that she fell in love with someone who already had intimate knowledge of our world and so no matter where she was in this world, we will always be able to stay in touch.

I stared in awe as I watched her twirl around the floor in Carlisle's arms looking more beautiful than I had ever seen her look before. Her beauty always rivaled that of the rest of the ladies of our family, not that she was ever convinced of that. She automatically believed herself inferior because she had human flaws, but what she never understood is that true beauty is found in the flaws. I couldn't help but sigh as I watched our little girl all grown up spinning happily in the arms of the head of the family, our father figure in every respect, and yet I always felt so much more like her father than any of the others. I felt Bella's hand gently caress my arm before she wrapped her arms lovingly around my waist and pushing her shield away so I could read her thoughts.

_I know how much you love her. We all do, but it's different with you…it always has been. I know it's hard to let go, just go show her how much you love her and remind her one more time tonight. She'll appreciate it._

I smiled down at my wife. She knew me so much better than anyone else could, even with their powers and abilities. She didn't need to feel my emotions or glimpse into my future to know what I was thinking.

Soon the music stopped and Carlisle led her back to the center of the floor where Seth waited with a knowing smile having been warned what my brothers and I had planned. He looked down at her his thoughts filled with excitement over what was coming next, knowing how much it was going to mean to her. I watched her glance at Alice and register concern for her sneaky smile and then the surprise when the DJ annoucned this special song was for us.

The slow piano strains of Steven Curtis Chapman's Cinderella began to play as Jasper crossed the floor offering his hand to her as Seth stepped quietly away to observe from the side of the dance floor. He began to spin her on the floor as his he looked down on her with such tenderness. He never expected the emotions he felt for Lina to develop because he never considered the idea of children. They had never been his aspiration in life and were a complete impossibility once he was changed. In addition to that, he had been so concerned in the beginning about trying to suvive in the same home as a human. He stressed and argued over the decision contemplating living away from us for the duration of her stay with the family if we went through with the plan.

Against his better judgement, he traveled to Florida with us to meet Lina and take her into our custody, and within five minutes of walking into her presence, all ideas of moving away were forgotten. Her tiny little sad eyes that reflected every single sad thought and emotion in her sweet little body melted him immediately. He instantly began attempting to calm her fears and trepidation using his ability, desperate to bring some relief to the sweet little angel of a child huddled in the corner of the foster home clinging desperately to a tiny rag doll. From that day on, Jasper's heart belonged to two women, Alice and Lina, and the day several months after she moved in with us that she finally began to warm up to our family was one of the happiest I had ever seen Jasper. I watched as he gracefully spun them around the dance floor, struggling to keep his emotions in check, not wanting to let his own sadness that clawed at his chest effect her happiness. It did help that she was radiating such happiness into the room in general due to her own skills that she had adapted from Jasper was unintentionally sharing with everyone around her. It was tinged with a slight sadness from within her own heart as well. It was nearly as hard for her to let go as it was for us to let her. Through the web of a dozen emotions he was dealing with, both from himself as well as the rest of us, he finally managed to smile down at her and say what he was feeling from every single one of us, "We love you darlin'."

We all enjoyed the look of surprise on her face as Jasper placed a gentle kiss on her forehead before spinning her out in a flourish that made her skirt flare out around her legs, letting go just as Emmett stepped in to capture her in his arms. As soon as she was out of his hands, I felt the brief burst of sadness as Alice appeared at Jasper's side running her hands down the side of his face comfortingly. "It's okay Jazzy. She's a big girl now, but you know she'll never truly leave us. She loves us too much. Trust me, even when she lives on her own with Seth away from us, we'll be in constant contact." He smiled at her and tried to let that hope in the future console him as he watched Emmett and Lina on the dance floor wishing his turn hadn't been so short.

The big bear of a man holding Lina in his arms made her look so tiny in spite of the fact that she was already taller and more filled out than most of the ladies in our family and in her heels was the same height as Rosalie. Emmett smiled his big goofy grin down at her as he led her lightly across the dance floor as his memories drifted over the past fourteen years of playfully teasing the one family member willing to fight and argue back. He had so much fun hassling poor little Lina, reveling in her weak threats to one-day figure out a way to kick his butt, but most of the time she enjoyed it just as much as he did. He was really going to miss those interactions when she was no longer with us in our day-to-day lives.

I could feel his thoughts turn sad at that realization as he leaned down to whisper to her, "I know you're not leaving us all just yet, but I know that this means we're that much closer to it. We're going to miss you so much kid. You don't even know how much." He meant it too and his heart both swelled and collapsed at the same time as she pulled her weak little arms as tightly as she could around his big neck. He picked her up and settled her feet onto his as he spun her around and the laugh that she let loose made all of our chests tighten. We were going to miss that sound…the sound that gave each and every one of us joy. As they floated across the floor he was smiling to himself as he remembered summer days of climbing trees and dancing with her on his feet as he would play knight to her princess. He was the one that was the most like her playmate in those early days and it didn't take long before she started calling him Brother Bear, a nickname that he loved desperately even to this day.

I wasn't sure at first if he was going to do like we planned and actually give her up to Jacob. He was feeling far too sentimental and possessive of his little princess, but he finally took a deep breath and sighed as he spun her out into the waiting arms of Jacob, I sensed within his thoughts the feeling of loss as he turned sadly and walked straight into the arms of a waiting Rosalie who pulled him close and stroked his hair as she whispered in his ear. "She'll always love you Em. You're her brother bear." He smiled at Rosalie and kissed her before hugging her tightly to his chest and taking deep pulls of her scent trying to comfort himself.

Jacob smiled down at her with tears in his eyes. He always had a special place in his heart for Lina for many reasons, not the least of which is how close she and Nessie always were and how much love Nessie has for Lina. They truly were raised as sisters and they truly did think of each other in that way thoroughly. While Lina's relationship with the rest of us was confusing because we all viewed her as much our daughter as our sister, that confusion was never an issue with Nessie, and by extension Jacob. In every real way they were her siblings in the purest sense of the word. Jacob was beaming down at his little sister in pride, pride in her for who she was and pride in her that she had imprinted on one of his oldest and dearest friends and was now officially a part of the pack effectively bonding them in multiple ways now. "You look beautiful tonight Lina. I'm so happy for both of you. I know you two will have a wonderful life together." She whispered her thanks and her thoughts were filled with the effort of fighting back her tears and having to double her efforts in her recognition that I was going to be next and she knew it was going to be hardest to take part in this ritual that was essentially the beginning of a very long goodbye with all of us, and especially me.

Jacob pulled her tighter for a brief hug before spinning her into my waiting arms and when our skin made contact I felt my chest tighten with emotion as I simultaneously saw that she had a similar reaction. I struggled to maintain my composure as I listened to her thoughts wax poetic over how in her deepest self she felt that I was her father in the truest sense while at the same time dozens of memories filled my mind as I closed my eyes, breathing deeply of her scent and trying to preserve the moment in my memories.

My mind went back to that first day we met her in Florida, her tiny little four year old body huddled timidly in the corner clutching desperately to a little rag doll that Bella later told me had been hers when she was small. Even before her scared sweet little thoughts hit me her wide green eyes had me transfixed. She looked out of them at us with a mixture of confusion and terror as her biological self-preservation instincts told her to fear us but another part of her heart told her to trust us. I saw her thoughts and I didn't hear anybody else but her in my head as my heart immediately melted in my chest. Her tiny scared thoughts were so pure, so sweet, and so trusting even through her fears. She locked her eyes with me and in that moment a bond was formed beyond anything that any of us have ever been able to explain. I kneeled down a few feet away from her and reached my hand out to her as we tried to explain who we were and that we would take care of her and she didn't have to be alone. She looked around the room at all of the faces, so big and foreign to her and then the memory clicked when she saw Bella and then looked back at me with wide eyes. I saw in her mind as her mother showed her photos in an album of our wedding and her tension melted a bit as she remembered that we actually were family. She looked at us all again as the rest of the faces matched the photos, but even at such a tender age, she was immediately impressed with the perfection of our facades and questioned the nature of our beauty. So intelligent and intuitive, even at the tender age of four…I smiled as I realized she was very much like my wife. After a few moments, she carefully and slowly stood up from her place of safety and reached her right hand out to place it gently in mine. Her eyes shot up at mine in worry when she felt the cold of my hands, but soon she relaxed and held my hand and walked by my side out of the house and to the cars as we drove immediately to the airport…her tiny hand never left mine.

The months that followed I found myself drawn to her presence constantly. I had only ever encountered two other pure and gentle minds like hers…my own daughter, and Seth. Every night for the first few weeks she would cry and scream when bedtime came, haunted by nightmares of her missing parents who her heart ached to see. On those nights I had no place I would rather be than sitting in the rocking chair with her wrapped securely in my arms as I would caress her hair and hum to her the compositions I had made for the ladies of my family as a new composition slowly wrote itself in my mind.

Every second that passed a dozen more memories from years gone by would pass as I watched the precious little girl who embedded herself in my heart the second I met her grow and develop becoming more and more beautiful with each passing year. I never stopped loving the purity of her thoughts, even when they turned to the opposite sex, they were always sweet and innocent, never becoming the least bit impure until after she imprinted on Seth, and then suddenly I had a daily struggle keeping myself from ripping his arms out of his sockets. I knew Seth's mind and heart, and knew his intentions were pure, but the thoughts that they would incite in one another were extremely difficult to bear!

Literally overnight my sweet innocent little girl went from being giddy from the thrill of her first experiences with hand holding, having a boy place his arm around her shoulders, fairly chaste kissing and dancing to hot and heavy making out. It was not a transition I was pleased with, but I have to admit I could never have been more proud of the restraint they both displayed with one another, honoring their promises to one another until she turned eighteen…and even then they could have been flippant with the whole concept of being free to indulge in the cravings of the flesh, but instead they emotionally bound themselves to one another, effectively bonding them in marriage before they took the final step in consummating their love. Seth truly was the best man in the world for her, and while I didn't put the pieces together completely then, now I look back with the eyes of experience to know that I knew that this pairing was destined from the first time I saw her beautiful tiny face huddled in the corner of a foster home in Jacksonville Florida. My princess, my daughter in every way except one, had found her prince and I was honored to have him join our family and trusted that if anyone could keep our most prized family member safe, it would be Seth.

I sensed her thoughts about my being like a father to her were coming to fruition and I gazed down at her with a strange combination of love, sorrow, and joy, I leaned down next to hear ear to whisper, "I feel the same way Lina. You will always be my daughter." I saw a flash of emotion in her eyes as she pulled herself as tightly to me as she could, burying her face in my neck as she sobbed. Her warm tears trailed down her cheeks and dripped onto my shoulders and neck and I could feel my own dry sobs as I fought to continue our graceful dance across the floor. The rest of the song I held her close, willing her to know how much I loved her and would miss her when her life inevitably led her away from our company as I placed soft kisses on her forehead.

The song ended we continued to stand in the middle of the dance floor and I held her as we both sobbed and Seth came out rubbing her back and patting me on my shoulder as he mentally asked if we were okay. I nodded slightly at him in an attempt to calm his quickly rising nerves and fears. A part of him still worried that she was too young and not ready for so many changes at once. I shook my head at him in an attempt to convey that she was in fact ready for everything with him, but at the same time it meant having to say goodbye to those of us she held on to so tightly for so long out of necessity and love. She had lost her parents so unexpectedly, that she in turn spent many years trying to fight the fear that one day she would wake up and find us all gone and herself once more completely alone in the world. These fears made her cling even more tightly to each one of us, and in particular me.

Finally after a few more minutes her sobs slowly dried and she was able to compose herself again as she looked up at me with a sweet heart warming smile that stretched all the way up unto her eyes. _You'll always be my father in my heart Edward._ Before I knew what I was doing, I pulled her to my chest one last time, my heart exploding at her declaration and aching all at the same time. Eventually I loosened my grip and kissed her head before returning her to Seth's embrace before turning to walk directly into my Bella's waiting arms and burying my face in her neck as she attempted to comfort me with her shield down, whispering words of comfort into my mind as she patted my back. I was nearly inconsolable, but eventually managed to pull myself together for Lina's benefit and attempted to enjoy the remainder of the reception.

I watched with happiness as the girls of the family all gathered on the dance floor to dance together in a group. It was their own less formal version of the dance my brothers and I shared with Lina. They laughed and joked sharing words of wisdom as they bounced and shook their way around the dance floor to the upbeat tune and I smiled as I watched the four women I loved most in this world, my wife, my two daughters, and my granddaughter all standing together in happiness and grace.

All too soon dawn began to break and the party was over. Alice disappeared with Lina later bringing her down looking as beautiful as ever in a light white summer dress, perfect for landing at the first stop on Seth and Lina's world hopping honeymoon…Hawaii. Seth had asked for my help in planning the three week extravaganza, complete with round the world airfare and five star hotels beginning with a week in Hawaii, then crossing the ocean once more to experience Sydney, Rome, Barcelona, Paris, and finally London before returning home. I knew that Lina desperately wanted to see the world all of her life, but we dared not take her with one of us for fear of drawing unwanted local attention to the fact that we lived with a human and she knew of our world. After the week in Hawaii and the need to do their laundry for the first time, our scent should be sufficiently purged enough to that they will be able to safely navigate the remainder of the destinations without fear of attracting curious vampires.

Everyone gave them their hugs and love before we slid into my car to go to the airport. I watched in the rearview mirror while I talked to Seth quietly as her eyelids struggled to stay open before finally giving up and falling closed in relaxation. She looked so beautiful and so much like the little girl I held in my arms so many years ago that passed far too quickly. My heart ached more and more the closer we got to the airport. We finally pulled out front and Seth and I woke her so she could go to the gate to await their departure. She came around the car giving me one more tight hug and kiss before turning to place her hand in her husband's and walk away into the busy terminal. A new hand held hers as she walked strong, tall, and beautiful into a new life, no longer the tiny scared girl with the frightened green eyes, but now confident, proud, and happy with the man that she loved.

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Author's Note: Whew! That was even more emotional than the original chapter to write, but there it is. Give me your opinions. I love to hear them!


	6. She's Having My Baby SPOV

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Authors Note: By popular demand…Seth's POV of Lina's pregnancy and the birth of baby Gabe. Hope you enjoy. Thank you to my Beta Mel for taking the time to dig through both of these long chapters…and thanks to all of you for taking the time to read it!

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She's Having My Baby SPOV

I had been nervous to bring up the subject of having kids with my Angel during our dinner in Seattle to celebrate our seventh anniversary of the day Lina became my entire world. I should have known better. The smile that lit her face the second before she screamed so loud it made my eardrums ring as she flew into my arms was so priceless. As long as I live, I honestly think that moment will be one of my top ten…top twenty at the very least. And right beside it would be the memory of her dragging me to the deck of the ferry while digging into her purse excitedly and handing me the little green tray that contained her birth control pills and looking at me expectantly as she told me to toss them over the side into the water. I reached my hand back and flung those puppies as hard as I could, laughing the entire time. She was so beautiful in that moment and even more beautiful in the moments after when she pulled me back to our car and proceeded to molest me in the back seat to my great delight creating a second amazing intimate memory while riding on this particular ferry.

The first few months we were patient knowing that it takes time for the birth control pills to work their way out of a woman's system and for her cycles to kick back into full working order, but as the months pressed on and we kept getting bad news, I could literally see the light fading in my Angel's eyes. We did everything we could to help the process along. She began taking her temperature religiously every morning and even went as far as me helping her stand on her head after sex because she had read that it helped the sperm get to their destination. She took prenatal vitamins to be sure she was getting plenty of folic acid to reduce the risk of spina bifida and even started eating oysters reading that they increase not only libido but fertility. But every month when her period would come or she would be late and take a pregnancy test that came up negative she seemed to grow more and more upset and it broke my heart.

We talked about options and decided that if she still wasn't pregnant by the end of November then we would go in to see the doctor and check both of our fertility and make sure that everything was okay with us biologically and if after that we still weren't having luck, we would start looking into alternatives such as in vitro fertilization. I was hoping we wouldn't have to go that far, but if I had to I would do anything to make my Angel happy. I knew she wanted this so very much, and while yes I wanted kids, if it weren't possible for us I would have been okay with that as long as I had her, but it meant so much to her that I was willing to do anything to make it happen for her.

I was in California in yet another boring meeting for another project when I got her call. Thankfully I was meeting with my favorite director who I had worked on many projects with in the past. We had built a pretty good friendship and he had become a pretty good friend that I had shared over the past few months a few of our frustrations in trying to get pregnant.

I heard my phone playing Lina's ring tone, so I asked Dave if he minded to which he shook his head and I picked up the phone immediately pressing send. The sound that met my greeting matched perfectly the pitch of my Angel's squeals of joy in the restaurant in Seattle. It was so loud that Dave could hear it perfectly and winked as the wide excited smile spread across my face as I heard Lina chant, "TWO PINK LINES SETH, TWO PINK LINES!"

I suddenly found myself yelling with the same enthusiasm as a joy I had never experienced before filled my chest, "ARE YOU SERIOUS?! ARE YOU SERIOUS?! TWO PINK LINES! WE'RE GOING TO BE PARENTS!"

"YES BABY! YOU'RE GOING TO BE A DADDY!"

We continued to scream into the phone at one another in our excitement for a few more minutes and the realization hit that I was far more excited about this than I had let myself believe. I hadn't let myself really feel the disappointment or the anticipation before because I was far more concerned about what my Angel was feeling and dealing with, but now that our child was on its way, I felt my heart pulse so hard with joy that I felt like it was going to explode.

Finally after going on for at least five minutes, we began to calm down and I held the phone close to me wishing I were there so I could hold her face in my hands.

"Oh I love you Angel. I'm so happy!"

"Me too Seth, I love you so much."

I asked her to wait the two days for me to tell everyone, but then she reminded me that Alice probably already knew. I knew her next call would be to her family, but she would save my Mom, Charlie, and Leah for when I got home. Thankfully I didn't phase anymore or else there was no way that this secret would have last that long.

When I got home I was pleasantly surprised to find my Angel waiting for me in the deadly blue dress perched up on the counter. She looked so radiant, she always seemed to glow to me, but now she really glowed so much more. She was happy and excited and content. I was so excited to give her the new charm for her charm bracelet and then wrapping her securely in my arms before carrying her to our bedroom.

We spent the next two hours in our bed as we worshipped one another, bringing each other over the edge over and over as we stared into each other's eyes. I honestly believed that it was impossible for any human to love another creature as much as I loved my Lina. She was amazing and I was the lucky son of a bitch who got to call her mine and make her feel how much I loved her each and every day…and now that perfect angel was going to give me a child. If there was such a thing as heaven on earth, I was living in it at that very moment.

It didn't take long before the horror stories you always hear about pregnancy began to catch up with my poor Angel and I just felt…helpless. I couldn't do anything to help her; I couldn't take on the suffering of morning sickness for her, although I gladly would if it were possible. All I could do was sit back and watch and do what little I could to ease her suffering. I would hold her hair when she would get sick, on the rare occasions she would allow me to do so. I would make her chamomile tea and toast to try to ease the nausea. I would even do my very best to dot every "I" and cross ever "T" because all of a sudden every little thing seemed to upset her and set her off. I didn't blame her though; I would be pain in the ass if I felt sick all the time too, not to mention the raging hormone thing I keep hearing about. It sounds horrible and there's no way I would ever be able to really truly understand.

The one thing I could and did willingly do was go out of my way to cater to her cravings. Her pickle obsession was quite humorous and it melted my heart the way she was so appreciative of me driving to Port Angeles to get her those silly Old Fashioned Lollipops. For every negative of the hormone induced mood swings, there were also the upsides too. Every little thing I did for her was so much more appreciated. Offering her a Kleenex was a kiss worthy endeavor. All I knew was that I was in awe of my Angel who was carrying my child, and whatever she needed me to do or be I would accomplish for her.

I still have to say that few things in life will be as awe inspiring as seeing your unborn child on an ultrasound. The first sonogram was a strange experience. We sat there together and stared at the little bean shaped spot on the monitor with the flash in the middle as the doctor told us that it was our baby. It seemed a bit surreal that the little lump on the screen was going to end up being a baby and I felt a bit disappointed at the sight until the doctor turned on the speakers and I heard it…the miraculous speedy heartbeat of our firstborn that matched it's rhythm to the flash on the screen and I was instantly in love.

Our next sonogram was even more amazing as the technician placed the transducer on Lina's bulging stomach and suddenly I saw his profile as he reached his little perfect hand up and sucked on his thumb. In that moment the love I felt for him expanded and filled my whole chest. Each and every time I saw him on an ultrasound screen or heard his speeding heartbeat on the handheld dopplers at the doctor's office my love for him grew a bit more and a bit more. This love was so intense I couldn't believe it was possible. I still loved Lina every bit as much as I ever had, but suddenly I knew that I could love her and love this new being in different and yet equally as intense ways. There was no such thing as a finite amount of love that had to be split between the various people in your life. No, instead my heart seemed to grow to accommodate the new love that kept flowing and growing within me. I now had two miracles in my life…my Angel and my son.

The more time that passed and the larger Lina got, the less time I got to spend with her in my arms. It was a difficult adjustment. Over the past half decade I had grown accustomed to falling asleep with her tucked tightly in my embrace, so when I got replaced with a pile of pillows I was more than a little disappointed. She was insistent though seeing as how her pea sized bladder made her have to get up several times a night and when she used me for back support she would have to wake me up when she got up and went back down and it always took a while for her to get comfortable again. I honestly didn't mind, but it made her feel too guilty so I finally gave in. I would still reach over past the pillows and drape my hand around her waist feeling our son shift and move during the night. Sometimes I almost felt like he knew I was there and was saying hi.

As time passed, the pregnancy seemed to move on with very few problems. Her health was excellent and there were no signs of gestational diabetes or blood pressure issues, it was all smooth sailing until her 35 week sonogram when we discovered that the baby still had not moved head down and he started stretching up into her rib cage making her gasp and groan in pain once every hour or so I had a feeling something was wrong. We would sit on the couch and watch him at night as you would see her stomach shift and contort as the lump that was obviously his head moved sideways and attempted to turn, but would eventually go right back where it was. I could tell it was very painful for my Angel when this would happen. She would rub her stomach in a soothing manner, and talk to him and provide pressure trying to assist him in his rotation, but every time he would revert to his original location.

So at her 37 week checkup when the doctor suggested giving her meds and trying to turn the baby from the outside I had a feeling it was a bad idea. I had watched them struggle several times trying to get him to turn, and I had a suspicion that if it could be done he would have done it already and trying to force it would be a mistake. I didn't like the idea of them cutting her open either. It was a lose-lose situation.

I had such mixed emotions as I spoke to Lina in private about what we should do. On one hand I absolutely hated the idea of them having to cut her open to remove the baby, but at the same time we had read about the dangers of the external inversion and from what we had seen of his own attempts to turn it just didn't bode well. My blood ran cold as my Angel explained that she preferred to make her recovery more difficult if it meant less danger for the baby. I reminded her one last time, even though I didn't totally believe it that the doctors said that the risks to the baby were minimal as I took her hands and tucked her hair behind her ears in a soothing gesture. I saw her mind spinning as she contemplated and then I saw the flash of determination as she made up her mind. She was going to go through with the c-section and the decision was made.

I could see the fear and disappointment on her face as we made our way out to the car. I did my best to soothe her and promise her it would all be okay. I could see in her eyes that she was already questioning her decisions, but I was glad she chose as she did. Something inside me told me that trying to turn him would have been dangerous. I was relieved when I saw her expressions change and then she smiled and pulled out the phone to call our families and let them know when the delivery would be so everyone could get prepared and arrange to be there.

The next week was filled with obsessive baby preparation and the two of us desperately striving to decide on a name for our little boy. I don't know what it was, but nothing quite sounded right. We came across a lot of great names, but none of them were his name. Then it came to me one night when I lay in bed watching my Angel sleep in the moonlight as I rested my hand on her stomach feeling our little angel move inside of her. He was a gift from God, a little bit of my Angel and a little bit of me. He was already going to have my last name, but I felt compelled to have his name represent her in some way and that's when the name came to me and a wide smile filled my face in the darkness…it was PERFECT.

I didn't get much sleep that night. I was way too excited to run the name past the beautiful mother of my child when she woke up the next morning. I lay sentinel next to her all night watching her sleep. Of course this was one of the few nights that she managed to sleep the rest of the night through.

I was never so glad to see her wake when her eyes fluttered open at five in the morning. She gave me a look as though I were crazy to be up at that hour as I helped her roll off the bed and make her way to the bathroom. By the time she came back she looked completely confounded to find me sitting up excitedly on the edge of the bed with the lights on bouncing slightly in my excitement.

"What on earth has you so excited at this time of the morning? Did you snort coffee while I was sleeping or something?"

I chuckled as I got up and met her halfway across the room guiding her to the bed where I helped her climb up and lean against the pillows I had propped against the headboard for her to sit comfortably as we talked. After she was settled she clasped her hands together in her lap and looked at me expectantly with raised eyebrows as she waited for me to start.

"I had an epiphany last night Angel. I was watching you sleep and feeling the little guy moving around and I realized that he was a part of both of us and that I wanted his name to represent you as much as me. He's already got my last name, and then it hit me. You are my Angel and he will be too, and then the name came to me. Gabriel, like the angel in the bible who always brought all the good news. Gabriel Cullen Clearwater…and we could call him Gabe. What do you think?"

I had never in my life wished so badly that I had Edward's gift as I watched her face trying to read her expression and decipher what she was thinking. I saw the light flicker in her eyes and then was instantly marred by a bit of worry. "I love it, but you don't think it's a bit too Harlequin for the res? You were concerned about that with some of the other names."

I chuckled, "Maybe a little, but the nickname isn't bad and I think the sentiment behind it definitely overrides the Harlequin aspect of the name."

She smiled and then looked down to run her hand gently across her very large stomach. "So little one, what do you think? Is that your name? Are you Gabriel Cullen Clearwater?"

Right on cue, little Gabe stretched up and Lina gasped as his head stretched out under the right side of her ribcage and stayed there a moment before relaxing back down into the recesses of his womb.

"Well, I think that's a yes Mommy," I said with a smile as I leaned forward and kissed her forehead. She absentmindedly rubbed the space where he had just stretched with a wide happy smile on her face.

An instant later Lina's cell phone began to ring the jingly little tune that she has set for Alice's ring tone and we both laughed as I reached over and grabbed it from the bedside table handing it over to Lina. She answered it and put it on speakerphone as chaos met our ears. "We love it! It's a perfect name Seth! Esme and I will be over tomorrow to paint his name on the nursery wall and the nursery will finally be totally complete! See you tomorrow!"

We both laughed and sent them our love before lying down. I helped my Angel get comfortable again with her pillows and found myself more than a little excited when she asked if I could cuddle up with her back instead of using the pillows. I drifted off in the heavenly feeling of having my wife once more in my arms with my hand stretched across her body to caress her stomach that held my son, my Gabe.

The whole week was a whirlwind of action and emotion. I was worried about my Angel. She was getting sick after every meal again and she seemed to be on a constant rollercoaster of emotion. One minute she would be happy and the next she would be sad. I knew she was worried and I tried my best to make her feel better and comfort her, but if I were totally honest, I was worried too. My whole world was being left in the hands of those doctors and I prayed that they would protect the two most precious things in this world to me.

As the time grew closer Lina grew more and more diligent in her planning. She had everything for delivery day planned down to the minute. It was her coping mechanism I think, a way to provide control in a situation that was completely and totally out of her control. Everything she ever thought the delivery of her first child would be was squashed when she found out that she was going to have the c-section. Where there was once a decision available for her to make, medicine or natural, water birth or on a bed, doctor or midwife, just me in the room or more of her loved ones that would actually be capable of being there, they may have been limited, but they were her choices to make. Now she had no choices in the matter. She would go to the hospital, I would be the only one allowed in the room with her, she would be placed under the care of an anesthesiologist and a doctor was going to slice through her body to pull out our unborn child, after which they would be separated while she went into recovery and the baby went into the nursery to be cleaned up and they would not be reunited for at least an hour or more. So her way of dealing was to control every other detail surrounding the day.

This was working for her. She was nervous, but she was under control…that was until the call came saying that her delivery was being pushed back until 2pm. In an instant all of the collected and rational strength she was clinging to disappeared in an instant. Jasper, Edward, and I were at her side in an instant, each of us trying to help in our own ways, but she was nearly inconsolable. It took all three of us several hours to calm her down and it finally took Edward sitting in bed with her singing to her like he did when she was little to finally get her to get some much needed rest. We all knew tomorrow would be a big day for everyone, but especially her.

I walked over to the edge of the bed and sat down not wanting to talk out loud for fear of waking my sleeping Angel, so instead I just communicated with Edward through my thoughts. _Is she as freaked out as I think she is?_

He nodded silently.

Can you think of anything that can help? I swear I've never felt so helpless before in my life. I just don't know what to do for her!

"Just be by her side and do you best to make her feel your love for her. That's all you can really do, and you know her as well as I do. Just doing that will mean the world to her," he whispered just barely loud enough for me to hear. I missed my wolf hearing, but my senses were still pretty astute.

I sighed and thanked him for everything before crawling up and lying on the bed next to her kissing her belly and rubbing it softly. Gabe batted at my hand from inside his womb and I chuckled. "Patience son, patience. You'll be seeing me tomorrow afternoon. Until then relax and get some sleep, tomorrow is going to be a long day and you and Mommy both need your rest."

I felt one more little flutter before all movement ceased. I placed a few more soft kisses along Lina's bulging belly before leaning my forehead against it and falling asleep.

I awoke the next morning to a cold hand on my shoulder as the bed dipped and then rose. Edward told me it was time to wake up and face the day as he helped Lina make her way across the floor to the bathroom and then left us in privacy so I could help her get dressed for the day. I was anxious and worried, but I tried to stay positive and remember that our Gabe was going to meet us today and that was the part to focus on.

After getting us both dressed, we made our way downstairs to try to distract Lina with visiting family until it was time to go to the hospital. We had all hoped that if she had the distraction of visitors that the time might go a wee bit more quickly for her. After a while she grew tired and moved into the recliner in the family room where she sat with her eyes closed when all of a sudden out of the blue she spoke up.

"Yeah, Edward, I was just wondering the same thing. Everyone's so excited; it would be a shame if it was too difficult."

I listened and watched as Lina and Edward seemed to carry on a two-way discussion without words, which was quite unusual. I had seen them discuss with Edward responding out loud or at least nodding in answer, but this time there was nothing but their eyes locked.

"Well that's interesting_." _Edward finally said out loud with a smile and my Angel smiled back knowingly.

"Would somebody please share with the rest of the class what the heck is going on?" Emmett growled above the murmured voices in the room. "You know I hate when Edward carries on silent conversations, but this one is even more confusing that most!"

Edward laughed as he turned to communicate with Lina again wordlessly and then explained to us that my Angel could now hear his thoughts…but only his thoughts. Everyone was shocked including myself as the room exploded in quiet conversations. I looked over at my dazed looking Angel and smiled at my amazing wife as I reached over and took her hand as I reached my other hand to caress her hair in a soothing manner as I whispered into her ear.

"Every day you just get more and more amazing. Don't worry my Angel. Everything will be fine. We're going to meet our son in four hours."

I noticed her suck in a breath and then visibly relax as she looked around fleetingly before her gaze locked back on my eyes with a smile. She tipped her head up to me and I stretched down to brush my lips across hers before she leaned into my side and relaxed further closing her eyes and sighing. I looked up and mentally thanked Edward. He was right, the only thing I could really do for her was be there for her…and that was exactly what I was going to do.

As we walked into the hospital I could see my poor Angel trembling with nerves. I stayed by her side every moment as they prepped her for surgery. When it came time for them to draw her blood I could almost swear I was on the verge of phasing I was so angry with the staff. They just kept sticking her and sticking her with no result. I knew the blood work needed done to ensure her safety for the procedure, but come on! I was ready to go call in a specialist just to get the blood draw portion of the day taken care of.

I had never been more grateful in my life for the nurse that managed to get her IV in o the second try. If she had to suffer like she did with the blood draw there would have been a major problem on the labor and delivery floor. To my relief it wasn't the case. I could tell my Angel was uncomfortable and nervous still, but she seemed relieved that the IV went according to plan.

The visitors began to once again filter through but none of us missed out Lina's eyes kept flitting nervously to the clock on the wall. Finally they came to bring me the scrubs I would wear during delivery and while I was changing the anesthesiologist came in to describe the procedure and was all set up to begin when I re-entered the room.

I took my place in front of my Angel and let her hold my hand and spoke soothingly to her as she tensed and screamed a little while the epidural was being inserted and I was once again reminded that after watching what my Angel endured over the past nine months and already endured today before the delivery even began that I would never again refer to females as the weaker sex. I had witnessed my wife withstand discomforts that would put drive most men to their knees. My Angel has been the center of my world for the past seven years, but in the past nine months my respect for her has increased tenfold.

It was a relief when the epidural was finally in place and they helped Lina lay back onto the bed. I sighed thinking the worst was over until they gave her the test dose of the medication and I watched in horror as my Angel's face went wide with panic as her face flushed and she began gasping for air and shaking before she began heaving into the little yellow emesis basin that the nurse put in front of her. I held her hand and tried to comfort her as the nurse and the anesthetist rushed around dropping the head of her bed and adding bags of saline pushing it through as quickly as possible. As I held her hand I could feel her terror pulsing from her body to mine through her grasp on my hand as we kept our eyes locked on one another. It seemed to take forever, but finally she began to calm and the shaking lessened. My poor Angel looked in my eyes panicked with a thin sheen of sweat covering her face and I felt so frustrated that I couldn't do anything more to help. It was one thing after another today and with every new event I could tell she was getting more and more fearful, as was I. I prayed that this would be the last hardship for her during the delivery, but unfortunately that wasn't the case.

I had to fight the urge to force them to let me go with her as they wheeled her into the operating room. They informed me that they would come get me when they had her settled on the table and were ready to begin the procedure. I waited anxiously in the hallway as Carlisle and Edward came up to stand with me and I relayed the events of the last fifteen minutes with them. Edward was angry that they hadn't listened more closely to Lina when she explained she had trouble holding down her food this week and not considering how long she had to go without food or water due to the pushed back surgery time leaving her dehydrated and making her blood pressure drop when they delivered the medication.

They said it was a good thing that they had gone with the epidural though because if they had done the direct spinal block the dosage would have made her blood pressure bottom out and the situation could have been much more dire. I took a deep breath grateful for Lina's attentiveness to her instincts because she had told me before they took her in that they had originally planned to do a spinal and she argued that she and the doctor had discussed epidural and they went along with her wishes. If not the good Lord only knows what would have happened to my Angels!

Finally they came out to get me and brought me back into the room to stand behind the curtain next to my Angel's head. I stroked her hair and kissed her forehead as I whispered to her how much I loved her and how proud I was of her taking occasional glances over the sheet that separated the upper half of her body from the sterile environment where they were cutting into my wife's body. It was so strange to see her body open, her blood flow and then I saw them puncture the bag and the water gushed from the incision and I saw a tiny foot poke through the hole in my wife's abdomen and my heart stopped at the sight of that perfect little foot, the foot that was part me and part Lina…the tiny foot of our son.

In that moment my world seemed so utterly perfect, but that moment quickly spiraled into my worst nightmare. I watched the doctors faces closely as they tried to pull my son out, but couldn't get the leverage so they took the scissors and made a vertical incision before they once again began to tug at my son's feet gaining a bit of ground and grasping around his hips as they tried to shift and turn him to allow him to escape. The tension in the room rose and my Angel began to get tense as she realized something was wrong and I could feel her fear rising in her touch. As if it were all going in slow motion I watched in horror as they extended the incision and one doctor pushed on the upper section of my wife's stomach as the other grasped my son's hips shifting his body in an attempt to free him from the suffocating confines of his womb. My heart sped and I felt like I couldn't breathe as each second stretched on for an eternity and all I could do was try to comfort my Angel while I prayed for the safety of both her and our son.

They finally freed him and my breath continued to evade me as I saw the limp purplish blue of our child whisked away to the incubator as my Angel began to panic and wail from her position on the table. Then I saw him start to move and I saw his face contort into a cry before the sounds left his little body. At first they were so quiet I could barely hear them. The little cries were so weak and tiny, I tried to comfort Lina and get her to hear his cries, but I guess they were still not loud enough for her to pick up. Then he let forth a larger staccato cry and I saw the relieved smile grace my beautiful Angel's face as she knew he was okay.

She told me to go be with him and I rushed to his side snapping pictures so I could return to her side so she could see, feeling so much relief as I saw my son's color shift from purplish blue to a reddish pink and I knew he was going to be okay. My relief was a bit premature as I heard my Angel scream from the table and I looked over to see her arching her body on the table as the doctors tried to suture her incisions back together. Every time the doctors would touch her she would scream again and I was ready to kill that damned nurse anesthetist for not keeping up with her job. An epidural should not be allowing her to feel that kind of pain and she needed to do SOMETHING for my poor wife. She had already been through so much today; the least they could do was keep her comfortable for the last bit of the procedure.

Finally the freaked out anesthetist offered to put Lina under general anesthetic, putting her to sleep for the remainder of the process, to which my Angel begged her through her cries. The feelings of hopelessness and pain I felt in that moment were indescribable as I watched my wife suffer on the table unable to do anything at all to help. Then to make matters worse they began to herd me out of the room stating that I wasn't allowed to stay while she was under general. I pushed past them to give her one last kiss and tell her that as soon as I could I would be back with her and showed her the pictures of our son just as her eyes fluttered closed. I thanked God for giving her some relief and followed the nurse out of the room where they said I could go be with our son in the nursery until they came to take me back to my wife.

I stood and watched in awe as they cleaned the sticky white goop off of my son and weighed and measured him sticking monitors on his body to keep track of his heart rate and breathing. I never felt so conflicted in my life. My heart felt like it was soaring as I watched the nurse care for our son, the perfect little combination of my Angel and me lying in front of me in the tiny plastic incubator and yet also breaking that I couldn't be there to comfort my wife during this part of the procedure.

She was so scared as each event passed and we thought we had suffered the worst only to be faced with something even more horrific and terrifying. I prayed that her recovery would go more smoothly than the delivery had. I knew that she was going to be in unbearable pain when she woke up. Not only was she split wide open with that t shaped incision, but the pressure that the doctor was putting on her upper stomach to help force Gabe out was most undoubtedly going to make the muscles in the upper regions of her stomach sore as well.

I mechanically took pictures of Gabe and of the dozens of family and friends who watched the nurse care for him with rapt attention, hoping to help brighten Lina's spirits when she awoke in the recovery room. I was so grateful when the nurse arrived and informed me that she had been moved to recovery and I would be able to go in to see her in fifteen minutes.

I moved into the hallway to talk to our families and was grateful that Edward had been able to give them all a blow by blow as things were happening so I didn't have to relive the trauma at that very moment for their benefit. They all gave me hugs and asked me to tell Lina that they all loved her before I was ushered into the recovery room to sit beside my still sleeping wife.

I stared down at her peacefully resting face with reverence. Never before had I imagined how I could possibly love my Angel any more than I already did, but watching her today as she so bravely faced so many obstacles in order to bring our son into the world, my love for her grew exponentially. I didn't know how I got so lucky to have her in my life, but I would be forever grateful.

After twenty minutes I was asked to step out to fill out some paperwork and talk to the doctors. They apologized for the stressful delivery and informed me of the issues that they had not expected to face. It seems my Angel had a bicornuate uterus, which gave it a bit of a heart shape and also had a band of tissue around the uterus that was tightening down on Gabe keeping them from getting him out. It was only upon cutting the tissue that they were able to free him. They also explained that due to the excessive time it took to free Gabe from his mother that he would need to stay in the nursery except for short times to nurse and bond with Lina for the first twenty four hours in order to keep him on monitors and ensure that no harm came to him during the procedure. I thanked them for all of their hard work having watched them throughout the entire ordeal and knowing how urgently they worked to save my wife and son.

I returned to the recovery room and found that my Angel was awake. I excitedly showed her the pictures of Gabe telling her all about how amazing and perfect he was. We talked about the surgery and I was surprised to find that while she remembered a lot, many of her memories were a bit fuzzy, and she didn't remember me showing her the pictures of Gabe in the delivery room at all.

Thankfully they eventually decided to move her to her room and as they rolled her past the waiting room, the whole family crowded around to wish her well and give her their love. Then she was rolled past the nursery where she got to see Gabe through the glass. My heart broke and tears rolled down my cheeks as I watched her reach a weak and shaky hand out to touch the glass trying to be as close to our son as she could. With the promise of seeing him as soon as she was settled we finally got her into her room and settled.

Soon the nurse arrived with Gabe and I watched in wonder as the nurse took him from his bassinet and settled his wiggling straining form on Lina's chest. In that instant both of my angels relaxed into one another's touch. Gabe instantly went limp and sighed as he rested skin to skin with his mother and Lina smiled the most glorious smile ever. She was radiant.

She reached her left hand unencumbered by an IV and gently brushed it across his cheek as she whispered, "Hi Gabriel Cullen Clearwater, I'm your Mommy." I melted as I watched her take off his little blue hat and bent down with a grimace to kiss his soft hair and then buried her nose in his black tresses with a sigh. She was in pain, but at the same time she was at peace because Gabe was safely in her arms.

I watched in awe as the family passed our son around the room each one equally enraptured with our son. Soon the lactation consultant came in to clear the room and assist Lina in her first attempt at breastfeeding. I sat in the corner and watched in amazement as my wife learned about how to provide nourishment for our son from her own body. It was such an amazing thought to be able to do that for him.

I watched as she got frustrated and struggled in her attempts to feed our son while lying down, which was obviously a very difficult thing to do. She was so determined and I could see the stubborn look in her eye that told me that one way or another she was going to be doing this for our little Gabe one way or another.

When she was done I took our son and carried him to the bassinet where I set about the process of changing his diaper. I had gotten plenty of practice with my niece and nephew, but it was still amazing to be changing my own child. I was halfway done when I heard my Angel gasp from her bed. I looked up to see her looking over at our son in concern and I realized that she was seeing the thin purple rings around our son's chest from the band that had been constricting around him as they tried to deliver him. This opened us up to the conversation about how close we really came to losing our son. We were both so thankful for her intuition and the fact that we listened to it. It would have only taken one of the many decisions that led us to the path we took to have been different to have put both my angels in far greater danger than they already were.

The next three days were an exhausting string of visitors and late night feedings. I was amazed at how quickly Lina was healing. The first day she could barely move an arm without wincing. The next morning they had her up walking around, however slowly, and showering. By the afternoon of the third day she was up pacing the room slowly and gently, but still pacing ready to go home. She still needed help getting up and down out of chairs and the bed and while showering, but the progress she made in just a few short days was awe inspiring.

I was a little concerned with Gabe's nursing problems, but the nurses didn't seem to be concerned about it, so we left that afternoon with him. It was an amazing feeling to drive my family home from the hospital. I observed warmly as my Angel gently took our son out of his infant car seat and carried him slowly from room to room telling him about the things we did in each room before taking him to his room and telling him all about the work his Grandma Esme and Aunts and Uncles put into the paintings on the walls and the rest of the decorations.

She held him a while before gently placing him in his crib and then moving across the room to slowly ease herself down into the recliner with my assistance. I could see that she was tired and weak but determined to be aware of everything during these first few precious hours of us being home alone as a family. I watched a few minutes as my beautiful Angel rested her head against the back of the recliner, her tired eyes watching our son's slow steady breathing. I lowered myself to the floor at her feet resting my head on her leg carefully as I watched her watch our son before she turned to look at me with the most radiant smile.

"Well, one thing about it, we'll know going in what to expect next time. The doctors will be prepared and so will I." she whispered as I gazing lovingly at our son.

"Next time? After what you just went through I wasn't entirely sure you would want to do it all again. I would understand if you didn't." I couldn't help but look at her with wide amazed eyes. After what she had endured the past few days I had seriously wondered if she would ever be willing to put herself through it again…and I worried that the next time we might not be lucky enough to still have her with us by the time it was all said and done.

She just smiled and shrugged with a sage look on her face. "Of course we will do it all again, that little boy is not our only baby. There will be a next time."

I reached forward and grabbed her hand kissing her knuckles lovingly and holding her hand against my cheek as I looked up at her through tears of love. "Angelina Cecelia Cullen Clearwater, You are the bravest person I have ever met and I love you so much. You never cease to amaze me."

She laughed as she grasped my hand in hers and I could feel her resolution and love radiating through her skin and into my own. She was pretty certain of her future in this respect. Soon I noticed that she seemed to be feeling more of her pain so I helped her back to the ground floor and settled her on the couch bringing her some food and her pain medication. Soon after Gabe woke up and I retrieved him from his nursery along with the curved nursing pillow to make nursing a little easier for Lina and helped her get settled with our son to feed. I watched the both struggle as he would latch on and suck eagerly only to pull away and scream over and over and before long his mother was crying as hard as he was. I tried desperately to soothe both of them, but once again I was at a loss.

At Lina's request I brought her the breast pump the milk she managed to express to Gabe through a bottle with he eagerly ate without interruption as my poor Angel sobbed next to me on the couch. Our family began to show up later that evening to help all taking turns staying with us. Jasper came and went often during that first night in a struggle between wanting to help his baby sister and having issues with her blood. He was like clockwork though. Every hour and a half he would breeze through and make sure she was doing well and helping ease her emotions if necessary before disappearing once more into the night.

The next day at the doctor we discovered that she and the baby had a case of thrush causing nursing to be uncomfortable for them thus leading to Gabe's reaction. We were sent home with medication and also a phototherapy bed that we had to keep Gabe in when he wasn't being fed or changed.

Thus we began another two days of torture as we were forced to leave our baby laying on the strange contraption only allowed to have him off for twenty minutes every three hours for feedings. It was definitely a less traumatic hurdle to cross, but it was still difficult since we craved to hold him close with all of our might, but weren't allowed to in order to improve his health.

Once we got past the first week, things were wonderful. My Angel was an amazing mother. Strangely enough, she didn't seem to have quite the same connection with our son that she had with Sarina. It upset her that she couldn't sense our son's emotions, but maybe that was because she didn't need to be able to. She seemed to have some kind of mother's intuition with him…she didn't physically feel his emotions, but she just seemed to _know_ what he needed. It was amazing to watch and I found myself often watching my wife in reverent awe.

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Author's Note: So there you guys go. Hope you liked it. Just a reminder, there will be no updates to Chasing Shadows for at least two weeks due to real life and my son's birthday. See you guys in May!


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